Arrancar
by insertappropropriatenamehere
Summary: Hitsugaya and Hinamori are sent to England to check why no spirits or Hollows have been noticed lately. However, soon after they arrive, they find the answer— and it’s not pretty. It turns out Voldemort has been creating a very powerful Hollow.
1. Prologue

2stupid: The plot is interesting. Hitsugaya and Hinamori are sent to England to check why no spirits or Hollows have been noticed lately. However, soon after they arrive, they find the answer— and it's not pretty. It turns out Voldemort has been creating a very powerful Hollow. Soon after, Hitsugaya's Gigai's "magical ability" is detected and they're drafted into Hogwarts. However, Hinamori pretends to join the Death Eaters to further spy on the weapon.

Tensa-chan: Note: This is before the Bleach series because a) otherwise they'd be in Japan with Ichigo, and b) Harry Potter takes place in the 1990's and Bleach takes place after 2000 (I think).

2stupid: Sooo. With that done, let's start!

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Prologue

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"Shiro-kun!" The call echoed through half of Soul Society. Many of the people who heard bet that it was Yachiru, while the rest believed it was Hinamori, since they were the only two who could call him Hitsugaya-kun without getting chewed out by said shinigami. Actually, all of the guessers were correct. Yachiru and Hinamori had both shouted out at the same time.

Hitsugaya Toushiro looked up from his paperwork as the two lieutenants ran into his office room, destroying his door in the process. 'Now I have more paperwork; they'll wonder what happened to my door…' He turned to Matsumoto, who was sleeping on the couch. Now feeling slightly irritated, Hitsugaya turned back to his major problem—Yachiru and Hinamori.

"What is it?" he asked, a bit irritated from all the paperwork. He had a back room full of it, and more was piling up by the day.

"You see, we need you to go to England with me to check up on why no souls or Hollows have been there lately. While you're gone, Yachiru will do your paperwork, okay?" Hinamori stated.

Hitsugaya considered, then nodded. After all, he would do almost anything to get out of paperwork. It was just so troublesome. So he chose to go somewhere he hoped would have less. Sadly, in a different place, the teachers at Hogwarts decided they needed the students to do more homework and write more essays. If he had known, he would have chosen to stay at Soul Society. But it was too late to save him.

After talking to Genryusai-taicho, who was literally the head of Seiretei, Hitsugaya walked into the shop owned by the resident shinigami on duty in the England sector, Gotetsu Hanamichi. Hanamichi was a female shinigami from the 9th squad who preferred bashing Hollows to lounging about in Seiretei. From her, they got a couple of gigai, and then proceeded to do what they did not do best—blend into society for some information gathering.

It was a little after nine in England. In a house far, far away a trio of students reunited with a lot of shouting, screaming, and bangs. There would soon be many, many trials and tribulations for them all, never regret.

Meanwhile, in the small town of Ottery St. Catchpole, Hitsugaya was walking towards a decrepit stone house which resembled nothing more than a pig pen with many, many attachments. He was hoping to check out the strange energy emanating from the place. She began climbing the long path up to the door.

In another small town, Hinamori was knocking on the door of what was known as the Riddle mansion.

Somewhere in London, a group of people were celebrating Harry's successful trial.

Several stories under London, a certain fat toadlike woman was being briefed on her newest assignment by a mentally strained Minister of Magic.

At the Riddle mansion, a certain snake bastard (and no, it's not Orochi-kun, this hebi-teme's bald) told his assistant Wormtail to answer the knock as several influential purebloods Apparated onto the premises.

Hitsugaya knocked on the door. As soon as it opened, he stuck his foot between the door and the door jamb, effectively stopping the door from slamming shut.

"Excuse me, but may I speak with you?" he asked politely.

"Why?" came the predictable answer from the plump redheaded woman.

"I need to ask a few questions. I seem to be… lost. And uh, it's really embarrassing, too. Have you seen Hinamori-chan anywhere? We were supposed to meet next to that strange building with the energy flow, but I ended up next to the wrong building. Could you help me point the way?" Hitsugaya asked, trying to sound sheepish. The truth was that he and Hinamori had chosen these particular houses after reading a document on wizards. The energy on them was matched only by that castle in the countryside and the hidden house in London, both of which they had chosen to check out later.

"I suppose you could come in," the woman said hesitantly, her maternal instincts clamoring to take over to help the poor boy while her self-preservation said to aim a couple of hexes at him. In the end, the maternal instincts won.

"Thank you…" Hitsugaya drifted off, realizing he didn't know the woman's name.

"I'm Molly Weasley. Stay here, I'll get some cookies and milk," Molly said. However, when she was in the kitchen, she put a couple of drops of strong sleeping potion into the milk and some Veritaserum into the cookies.

"Thank you, Weasley-san," Hitsugaya said politely. He took the milk, not trusting the strong energy emissions from the cookies. Because he decided that the milk was the lesser of two evils and that he did not want to insult his hostess, he drank the drugged milk. Lucky for him, the sleeping potion takes a while to take effect. Unfortunately, during the time he had to stay awake, he got a good measure of the Weasley family, their like and dislikes, their hobbies, and everything he did not want to know about the family. It could end up in handy some day, though, if he ever needed help. Though that was unlikely.

All too soon, Hitsugaya began feeling lethargic. Apparently, some strange energy was attempting to force his gigai into sleep. Unfortunately, the soul encompassed within the gigai was also affected. Feeling spectacularly annoyed he couldn't have left earlier—the woman ranted on and on about her family—and used shunpo to go back to Hanamichi's to ride out the potion. Hitsugaya soon fell into a type of meditation shinigami use to dispel unwanted influences from their souls (and hopefully, therefore his gigai).

Hinamori watched as many hooded people popped up spontaneously, feeling suspicious of the snake man in front of her.

"Who are you and why do you come here?" the Dark Lord asked. He was also curious about how she managed to pass through the many wards without ending up comatose and brain dead, but did not show it. Let others think what they will; the Dark Lord is a very patient man.

Hinamori gulped, and began the fabricated story she and Hitsugaya had made up if they met anyone dangerous. Hinamori might be dead, but the snake man in front of her made her feel very dangerous.

"Well, you see, I am a rogue shinigami; I died fifty years ago along with my brother Toushiro Hitsugaya when our cauldron blew up. I eventually ended up becoming a shinigami, but eventually was exiled from Soul Society because of something taboo I did. Hitsugaya-kun helped me out, and for it, he was exiled as well…"

Hinamori began telling a circumvented version of what had happened between the former 11th Division Captain Urahara and his friend Yoruichi.

"… and so I stand here before you today, hoping for revenge against the rest of Soul Society for exiling me, and for that vengeance I will ally myself to you," Hinamori finished. She wasn't sure if allying herself with an evil snake bastard was good for her or the rest of Soul Society, but it seemed as if that were the only way to escape with her life intact.

"Good," said Voldemort. "You may join me under the Death Eaters. But first, roll up your left sleeve. And how old are you? You look ten."

"I am over a hundred and fifty years old," Hinamori said softly, ignoring the surprised gasps from various Death Eaters. "And I doubt your sealing technique will work on me. But if you prove to have strong spiritual energy, called reiatsu, I will teach you some kido, since you are my ally." Hinamori had almost no intentions of teaching him kido, especially anything dangerous.

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The reason Hitsugaya fell asleep is that he's in gigai, and when his gigai's in forced sleep, he is too, and we all know that it's kind of hard to slip out of gigai when one is sleeping. Now you have to feel sorry for Dumbledore and co. when Hitsugaya wakes up early. Now be nice and R&R. Or I'll set Yarochisai's cows on you.


	2. Chapter 1

2stupid: Ohayo. And we are back, with another chapter to this lovely fanfic.

Tensa-chan: Yep. And neither of us own a hypertrichosis—suffering man who shapes clay or any extremely basic household cleaning agents.

2stupid: And that was our disclaimer. You'll need a dictionary to understand that one.

Tensa-chan: By the way, neither of them are carrying their zanpakuto unless I specifically mention it. Also, I made the mistake of calling "shunpo" "shunshin" by accident.

Tensa-chan: And let the story begin.

Chapter 1—Shinigami, Hogwarts, and Death Eaters

Hitsugaya smiled inwardly. He had finally managed to eliminate the invasive energy source from his gigai, although the energy had seemed to start dissipating by itself. It had taken longer than usual, but all anyone would see or feel was a slight sweat sheen—the potion leaving the gigai through its "pores"—and perhaps a little extra warmth or cold. It was hard to determine which. He noticed he was lying on what seemed to be a bed, but which seemed to be high enough to be a table. (AN: I'm guessing that in Seireitei they sleep on futons, which are on the ground. Western beds are not.) Tuning into his surroundings, he heard a few people talking softly. He listened in.

"—Molly, you know he could have been a Death Eater. It's dangerous. And it wouldn't be the first time You-Know-Who used a child to murder someone. Don't you remember McArthur? Killed off by a child under the Imperius Curse, just like that. Poof! It's far too dangerous!"

"I don't think he even knows what magic is. He didn't have a wand and he referred to the magic concealing our house as an energy flow. He also mentioned a companion named Hinamori." It was the woman he had talked to.

Hearing Mrs. Weasley's words, Hitsugaya slapped himself mentally. Damn! He really needed to be careful about what he said. But since his gigai showed no motions, slapping himself or otherwise, the voices continued talking.

"Well, on that account, what is he wearing? He's dressed like a Japanese samurai, but only in black, and wears a strange white cape/overcoat with a black diamond and the Japanese or Chinese symbol for "ten" on it. We will have to check in Hogwarts' library then. And we would be best to wake him up. After all, he can't ask questions if he's out. Enervate," the voice said.

On cue, as soon as he felt yet another (poor Hitsugaya, he's really having a bad day, isn't he) energy source beam him with ATP, he pretended to wake up. Namely, opening his eyes and sitting up, putting that lovely confused-and-innocent face he's been practicing since he entered the Shinigami academy.

The prodigy's brain took in the old, dusty, decrepit and once-formerly-ornate-in-the-Western-style room he was in. Mrs. Weasley and a man were also there. The man was extremely tall, had long hair and beard like Yamamoto-taicho, (AN: aka Genryuusai, but I realized his last name was Yamamoto, not Genryuusai. I won't be changing the first chapter; it's still acceptable.), had a long crooked nose on which perched half-moon glasses, and wore—bathrobes. Incredibly, Hitsugaya wasn't mentally traumatized by the man's appearance, since Shunsui, Zaraki, and Kurotsuchi, not to mention others like Yumichika, Sentaro, and Kiyone, looked just as weird or weirder. The man had stern blue eyes and seemed to be frowning at Hitsugaya.

Dumbledore had been staring at the really young-looking person with white (!) hair and a costume reminiscent in some memory of his. Mentally shaking his head to clear the thoughts from his brain, since he was pretty sure that the whatever-it-was also carried swords, he started when the apparently irritable boy spoke.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked. He really hated when people were rude and staring at him. He really wanted to be back at Soul Society or at Hanamichi's shop, where there were no _rude staring people_ coughdumbledorecough. He began to stare back.

"What's your name?" Dumbledore asked brusquely, realizing he was going to be late for some rather important meetings.

"Toushiro Hitsugaya. You may call me Hitsugaya-taicho and nothing else." Hitsugaya really liked his captaincy and liked the respect he got because of his captaincy.

"Well, Toushiro, young man—" Dumbledore began, but got no farther.

"As I said, it's Hitsugaya-taicho, not Toushiro," Hitsugaya virtually hissed. "And what is your name, sir?"

"My name is Albus Dumbledore. You may call me Professor Dumbledore," Dumbledore said.

"At least I'll call you Professor, but you insist on calling me by my first name," Hitsugaya said. "And yet we are at least of equal rank. At least treat me with respect if nothing else."

Dumbledore was taken aback. This boy sounded mature, as if he were only physically a boy. And that uniform of his kept nagging in the back of his head.

"You look like a Death Eater," Mrs. Weasley interrupted sharply.

'Death Eater?' Hitsugaya wondered what that could be. It sounded either like a member of some organization or some strange and exotic beast. He wasn't sure one was better than the other.

"Are you talking about Hollows?" Hitsugaya asked blandly, scrutinizing both their faces for signs of deceit. Like the good Shinigami he was, Hitsugaya's face was blanker than paper.

Mrs. Weasley's and Dumbledore's faces showed only confusion.

"What are Hollows?" both asked simultaneously.

Luckily, Hitsugaya was saved from answering when a black butterfly flew in and landed on his outstretched shoulder. After a while, it flew off.

"What's a butterfly doing in here?" wondered Mrs. Weasley. "I thought that this place sheltered only spiders."

"That's not a butterfly. It came here with a message from Hinamori-chan. She's found her way into the other house with the energy emissions and was talking to a man who is apparently the head of a secret and dangerous group. The man she was talking to mentioned a project relevant to our search of these houses with special energy emissions. And he's got a lot of stupid but powerful goons. And she was asking me for permission to do some of the more powerful kido. And she has to stop calling me Shiro-chan," Hitsugaya deadpanned. It was best not to name names; names were easily traceable. Attributes were not.

Mrs. Weasley began the questioning.

"If that's not a butterfly, does that make it a moth?"

"Precisely."

"Who exactly is Hinamori-chan?"

"Someone I know."

"Who was she talking to?"

"Someone she knows."

"Why do you call magic 'energy emissions'?"

"Because that's what it is."

"Why was she asking you for permission to do that key-doe thing?"

"What is kido?" Dumbledore interrupted. His mind was working overtime trying to figure out Hitsugaya's uniform out. The captain's cloak didn't help, since most Shinigami did not wear those, especially those who came to the material world.

"She asks permission for me to do kido because I'm her taicho," Hitsugaya answered, ignoring Dumbledore's question and saying 'Captain' in Japanese in an effort to keep the pair from learning overmuch. It didn't work.

"You didn't answer my question, _Hitsugaya-taicho_," Dumbledore said, slightly stressing Hitsugaya's name in an effort to pressure Hitsugaya into feeling ashamed enough to answer. It didn't work.

"Mrs. Weasley, it's ki-do, not key-doe."

Dumbledore felt fully qualified to start mentally squishing his stress ball.

"Could you at least tell us what taicho is?" Last ditch answer. If Hitsugaya didn't answer, it was time to start bringing out the Veritaserum. For some reason, Legilimancy didn't work on him. It wasn't as if his mind was guarded, it just wasn't there. And that made Dumbledore worry.

"It's a denotation of rank." Dumbledore sighed. It was an answer, no matter how evasive. Maybe he should get out the Veritaserum anyway…

"What's the moth? How did it tell you that? And I want a real answer this time." Mrs. Weasley again. It seems that fate ordained that the Shinigami were about to be discovered—until he left, anyways. After a Shinigami left the material plane, all traces of him or her vanished.

"That was a Hell moth. My friend and I can control them. They can be very useful, although I doubt she's letting her rather untrustworthy acquaintance realize that," Hitsugaya said.

"I think you should come with us, Mr. Hitsugaya. I'm sure we'll have a nice meeting on whatever comes up about your future and how we can help you," Dumbledore said. "But I'm afraid that will have to wait. I have a different meeting in three minutes. I'll see you after that."

After he and Mrs. Weasley had gone, Hitsugaya pulled out his cell phone and began to compose his report. He wondered what Hinamori was doing.

And that's this chapter. Next up is what Hinamori does with poor Voldie. You really have to feel sorry for him—Shinigami can be so evil at times. d


	3. Chapter 2

2stupid: Hello again! This is us, with Chapter 3. This fanfic will be updating faster as soon as Naruto Harry Potter Drabbles finishes.

Tensa-chan: Which is going to take a while.

2stupid: Sure, whatever.

Tensa-chan: So, to all our lovely readers, if there are any, this is Hinamori's visit with Voldie-chan and then to meet Hitsugaya at Grimmauld Place. Has anyone noticed that "Grimmauld" sounds like slang for "grim old"?

2stupid: Now that you mention it, yeah.

Tensa-chan: Try listening to emo while you write. It'll get the feel of being stuck with Voldie.

2stupid: Why do you call him Voldie?

Tensa-chan: Because he can talk to snakes. You know how I love snakes.

2stupid: Which is why you have a crush on Manda from Naruto.

Tensa-chan: Yep. Who wouldn't want to fall in live with him? He's the king of snakes and as big as a mountain… maybe bigger…

2stupid: sweatdrops Damn this chapter was hard to write.

Tensa-chan: sighs Let's just get started with the story…

Chapter 3

Hinamori was talking to Voldemort when she heard a howl which sounded like only one thing in the world—a Hollow. Whirling around, she set a hand towards her zanpakuto—it was easier to simply deal with a Hollow using a zanpakuto than to use kido, and she really didn't want him to see her using it. Voldemort chuckled.

"It's okay, Hinamori," he said, amused. "It's just a little project going on. In fact, if you will come with me, you can see it too." With that, he led her to a room warded with signs which caused the Hollow to become able to be seen by those without spiritual power.

Hinamori cursed under her breath. The Hollow was about the size of Grand Fisher, which is to say very big, and seemed to exude killing intent and spiritual energy as easily as a human breathed at rest. Luckily, Voldemort had not heard her curse, or he would have become suspicious of her intentions.

"T-that's okay. I'm just shocked. It looks so ugly!" Hinamori managed to say.

"Just curious, but what's your full name?" Voldemort's lackey, a man with long white-blond hair in a tie, asked.

"It's Hinamori Momo," Hinamori said. "My first name is Momo, but you will call me Hinamori. Everyone does—did—that." She lowered her eyes as if some memory hurt. (AN: She's being a really good actor right now, isn't she?)

"I believe it would be a good idea to get some fresh air," the blond man tactfully said. "My name is Lucius Malfoy."

Out in the garden, Hinamori summoned a Hell moth and secretly relayed a message to Hitsugaya, watching it flutter—apparently aimlessly—away. Neither Voldemort of Malfoy said anything about the black butterfly. The fact that it was a black butterfly seemed to cement something in their minds, as they didn't know much about Shinigami and therefore their ability to control Hell moths.

"We should see to it that you get a wand. I have a mission for you, but first you must swear loyalty to me. Come, it's time to acquire the Dark Mark," Voldemort said.

"What's the Dark Mark?" Hinamori asked.

"It's a magical tattoo that tells you when I want you to come."

"Sadly, since I am dead already and this corporeal form of mine is only temporary, it is impossible to put a tattoo on; the next time I appear corporeally the tattoo will have vanished," Hinamori countered, lying through her teeth. She had no idea what would happen, and didn't want to know. "Also, there will be no need to summon me. I will be staying here with you, overseeing that lovely beast you've created. I know about their ilk. Besides, my clothing cuts off at an inconvenient point, so unless you want the world to know what I am, you will politely refrain," Hinamori intoned icily. It looked as if the Shinigami etiquette lessons from their academy days paid off.

"What happens if we do?" Malfoy asked.

"Then I will be forced to use precautionary—violent—methods against you." Yep, those lessons are coming in handy. Don't you wish yours will?

Hinamori looked at them. They looked back. In the end, Hinamori did not get a Dark Mark. But she did get to see the Hollow again. As she watched it, several wizards cast powerful Dark spells on it, causing the impossible to happen—it took its mask off and chuckled.

"Hello, Shinigami. It has been so long since I've seen one your kind. I wonder what you will taste like," it (AN: All Hollows are neuter, right?) said.

"Hello, scum. It seems you have become a retainer of those you should devour," Hinamori shot back.

However, rather than being offended, as Hinamori wanted it to be, it simply chuckled, shifting its body around to reach something its back. It was a zanpakuto. Hinamori scowled. 'Crap, it's an Arrancar now. And I can't even use kido on it. Not without Shiro-chan's permission or with all these lackeys around. And I do –not- fancy taking that monstrosity's place.'

"I am Mordunt, Shinigami, and now the Arrancar of your nightmares," it said. "Fear me and die." And it lunged.

End chappie.

Hello, this is a really long author's note. It's going to be boring, too, so I hope you like it. It's going to be random facts from my life and Bleach. In Bleach, Hitsugaya has not gone through puberty yet. Unohana's shikai is most useful when people are unconscious. There is no thirteenth division vice captain replacement yet. Aizen never needed glasses in the first place. Ichigo's sword is stuck on shikai. Orihime's healing skills are on a par with Unohana's. Ishida is not the last Quincy (guess who? If you haven't read the manga). Matsumoto is Gin's only friend. Kira, Matsumoto, and the eighth? Division captain are drinking partners. Nanao's book may be her zanpakuto. Genryuusai is the first division captain's middle name. Jidanbou looks like a monkey gorilla. Hitsugaya might be related to that really sick captain with longer white hair (I just found out his name is Ukitake Juushiro of the 13th Division. God, even their first names sound alike.). You never know. Rukia has attained shikai but not bankai (yet). Hinamori's first name is Momo, which means peach. 2nd Division Captain Soi Fong's zanpakuto, Suzumebachi, may have been handed down from Yoruichi. Before she left, Yoruichi was from the same social rank as Byakuya is. Urahara is related to Yoruichi! Renji's bankai looks like a giant fish skeleton. Frederick Barbarossa was a king of Sicily. Thomas Becket was more successful in death than in life. The price of violins are going up since the tree they're made of is going extinct. If you are still reading this go skip the rest of it since it's just jibberish and really not on my life at all. I am a junior at Diamond Bar High School, located in Diamond Bar. I live in Arcadia, which is located in So Cal. We are having a cold spell, and the weather is forty degrees. (or was when I first wrote this) I listen to My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park. I absolutely love classical music and flutes. My name is Jennifer Otake, and my account on Gaia Online is YoYoDawg. I also happen to be in band and Anime Club. I can play the drums. I also like squirting lemon juice in peoples' eyes. (evil, aren't I?) I just so happen to know Michael Jackson, and we are going to be engaged after he gets over being a pedophilic homosexual. I am out to write a page of this junk (it's true, and the Bleach facts are all true, by the way. Everything else is junk I made up. Michael Jackson will never stop being a pedophile. Or a homosexual.) I love Gin's smile. Renji should go to hell. I have an IQ of 750. My SAT scores were 1900. My grade point average is a 4.2 and Stanford has offered to allow me early acceptance. In swimming, breaststroke is my best stroke and butterfly is my worst. (It's actually the opposite.) My phone is ringing off its hook. My cell phone number is 909-949-8222. I order from Papa John's pizza. My AP World History summer assignment is to go live in Africa for two years. My AP English III summer assignment is to go read all the books in the Library of Congress, which does not allow one to check books out (and has a copy of every book in existence). My French III summer assignment is to go to Paris and ask directions to the Eiffel Tower. My art homework assignment is to get one of my works hung on display at the Getty. My math assignment is to build a 100-foot suspended inverted arch from legos. My photography class assignment is to take a photo of the Earth from the moon. As you can see, I am drowning in work- and plane tickets! I am a homo sapien sapien. I feel like the moon. I am a Wiccan whose wiccan name is Luna Silvercry. I own a horse who eats as much oats as an ox. (note: Oxen do not eat oats. They eat grass.) The time is eleven at night and I am hyper off glue. I am off to ruin my friend's lock with that glue. In the Middle Ages, sex was evil. I have a weird birthmark on my shoulder. The area it covers is the size of a used eraser which makes my look like some kind of piebald animal or other. Leprosy is contagious. My hair is green and my eyes are pink. I am four foot thirteen inches, or 243 cm. I weigh 145 lb. I am currently in a pool being electrocuted by my laptop in order to forego my meeting with the evil axe murderer who lives on 23rd and Baseline. My friends are at summer camp for otaku children and my younger siblings are at UCLA with a full ride each. I have two dogs, a canary, a dead cat, and a dragon in my backyard. My favorite food is shrimp boiled in ketchup. (that just sounds gross) I am a sugar addict who craves lemon heads. Tohma-san, Sakano-san, (my friends' codenames) and I are going to the movies with Alex, who is going to Arcadia next year. I am fifty-two next spring, and my birthday is February 29. I look like a walnut—a Chinese walnut to be sure, but a walnut nonetheless. I am actually a pecan, so don't put me with the apples. And if you read all that, it's the weirdest profile I have made up yet.

Congrats for getting this far. Here is the rest of the chappie for you!

Fortunately for Hinamori (or so the Death Eaters thought), the Arrancar was stopped by the restraints the Death Eaters had meant for the Hollow. If it had lunged at her, however, Hinamori would have used forbidden kido (coughkido90cough) to destroy it.

"I would expect you to know what an Arrancar is, my dear. If you will tell me all you know, I will not give you the Dark Mark or send you on the mission, but put you in charge of this project along with Mr. Malfoy, here," Voldemort said, looking slightly amused.

Hinamori looked at him.

"Come on, then. We have much to discuss."

I just realized something weird. Since Ukitake Juushiro (13th Division Captain) was sick so much, how did he even get to be captain?

Also, from now on, I will be capitalizing Shinigami, since I capitalize Hollow as well.

Hmmm… I'm trying to go for long chapters. Tell me, do you want long chapters with long update intervals or short chapters with short update intervals?

Disclaimer: Neither Bleach, Harry Potter, Pizza Hut, or Papa John's belongs to me.

You do know you weren't supposed to read that huge author's note in the center, do you?

TELL ME UPDATE!


	4. Author's Note

Hi readers! Don't worry, this story's only on Hiatus until I can find time to start writing it again… ummm, blame my summer. It's busier than my school year and I'm dyiing from lack of sleep, so yeah. See you late August!


	5. Chapter 3

2stupid: Sorry for the hiatus.

Tensa-chan: Blame the AP classes. And the SATs.

2stupid: errr, right.

Tensa-chan: After a very long wait, here's your next chapter.

2stupid: And hopefully, a year of regular updates.

Tensa-chan: If we finally master Ryushi-the-Dutch-Ero-sennin's "Super Fast Update no Jutsu".

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Chapter 3

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Hitsugaya was not a happy Shinigami. Who would, if they were treated like some child or other when they were already centuries old and at the top of their game?

Damn wizards.

Hitsugaya was slightly worried, though. That old one had had a glimmer of recognition before it disappeared. Hitsugaya was willing to bet he knew at least something about Shinigami. That meant taking proper measure while he was around still so no one knew. So first he had to make up an excuse for his clothing.

Mrs. Weasley came in right after he put his cell phone away.

"I have to take you to the meeting."

Hitsugaya shoved his cell phone farther into his sash as he got up and followed the redhead.

"Coming." Really, he should act a bit angrier that he had been drugged and kidnapped by a supposedly friendly woman. After all, just because he's an adult in Soul Society doesn't mean he's an adult here.

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Harry and Ron were at their second Order meeting, this time to discuss some young, powerfully magical child who had apparently appeared out of thin air. (If only you knew.)

"Hey Harry, who'd you think he is?" Ron asked.

"Errr, I don't know," the Boy Who Lived confessed.

"He could be anyone," Moody intervened. "What's bothersome is that he could be a spy for You-Know-Who and we'd never know. Constant vigilance!"

"Right, mate. I'll take your word for it." Both boys edged farther from the mad ex-Auror.

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Hitsugaya walked in to find people in random stages of boredom and two teenagers edging away from a scarred old man ranting about 'constant vigilance.' He sweatdropped.

This was their standard of a meeting? His mind traveled back to the captain and squad meetings he had attended in Soul Society. They were much neater, and at least orderly, which was saying something, as there were many more Shinigami in each squad, let alone all thirteen, than there were here.

"Is it always so messy?" he asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes," she replied absently, most of her attention focused on how to bring the group to order.

"You need some kind of roll call," Hitsugaya commented. "Otherwise you would lose track of everyone in this mess."

"We tried. No one answered their names because the noise level was so high, so we scrapped that," Mrs. Weasley commented.

"That's nice. Use an even louder noise next time." _'Even though those loud idiots at eleventh division can tell when Kenpachi's coming just by the sound of his bells, no matter how loud they are.'_

"How? No, Fred, George, don't!"

Hitsugaya's eye started twitching, and if you looked carefully, a vein on his forehead was beginning to throb.

The noise simply escalated.

"SHUT UP!" he roared.

Immediately there was silence as everyone froze and panicked at the unidentified voice.

"WHO ARE YOU?" growled Scar-face, whipping out and brandishing a stick.

"Who are you?" Hitsugaya asked. "It's common courtesy to introduce oneself first. Or did it suddenly change?"

"I can assure you, Hitsugaya, it has not changed. Alastor, put your wand down. Mrs. Weasley, please close the kitchen door before Ginny decides to sneak out of her room and eavesdrop on the meeting," Dumbledore said from behind Hitsugaya, who twitched. It had been a long time since someone had snuck up on him, but the energy in the room was messing with his reiatsu.

"Right," Hitsugaya said. In the back of his mind, he could feel Hyorinmaru's power beginning to uncoil. "So Scar-face was deliberately being rude? And I told you earlier, it's Hitsugaya_-taicho_."

Was it just him or did Dumbledore's eyes suddenly get shifty?

"Let's start this meeting," the old man said, abruptly changing the topic. Everyone made room for everyone else to sit down. Hitsugaya remained standing.

"Well, Toshiro Hitsugaya, let's begin. How old are you?"

'_Around five hundred, old man.' _"Eleven. And you?"

"That's not important. I'm the interrogator. Where are you from?"

'_Soul Society.'_ "Japan. You?"

Dumbledore's eyebrow rose fractionally. "When did you arrive here?"

"A few days ago."

"How?"

"How should I know? One minute I'm asleep in Japan, and the next I'm here and wearing strange clothing."

"Strange clothing?"

"Who in their right minds would wear this stuff nowadays?"

"Who are your parents?"

"They're dead, so it doesn't matter." _'For that matter, so am I.'_

"Just give us your story, boy," Scarface spoke up.

"Alright. I went to bed, I wake up halfway up a hill wearing strange clothing, I ask an apparently friendly woman for directions, and I get kidnapped and interrogated. End of story."

"Please elaborate, Hitsugaya," Dumbledore spoke up.

"Can't. That's my elaborated story."

"Do you know what elaborate means?" the redheaded boy sitting near a dark-haired one with a scar spoke up.

'_Yes.'_ "No."

"Oh. Well, mate, it means that you should give more details."

"I knew that."

"This meeting is getting nowhere," a gaunt young man with lanky black hair sneered.

"Anyways, let's just use Veritaserum. It'll be easier."

Crap. Things were not going the way Hitsugaya needed them to go. Wizards were strange people.

"Do we have any?" another gaunt young man with lanky black hair answered sarcastically.

"Here, Sirius," said the first, pulling a bottle out of his robes. In the bottle was a small amount of clear liquid with a strong energy signature.

"Problem solved. Hey, Whitey, do you think you could drink three drops of this stuff?" Sirius called.

Hitsugaya's eyebrow twitched, but so slightly that no one noticed. "Why?"

"Everyone, please shut up and calm down," Dumbledore said, attempting to restore order. "I have an idea. Instead of interrogating you here, we'll give you a sort of test run, to see about what to do with you. Why don't you attend Hogwarts with the rest of the first years in the fall?"

"Hogwarts?"

"School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, boy," a young-looking man with graying hair spoke up. "One of the best."

"Lupin's right. Besides you have a powerful magical aura, no matter who you are. You need to learn how to control your magic before it goes haywire." Dumbledore then dismissed the meeting.

"By the way," Mrs. Weasley intervened. "Tomorrow you'll go shopping for you school things." She seemed to be in a kinder mood, partially due to her mother instincts, partially due to regret, and partly due to the fact that her role model, Dumbledore, seemed to okay the boy.

"Where?"

"Diagon Alley. It's really awesome! I mean, they have…" Hitsugaya began tuning out the redhead. "By the way, I'm Ron, and this is Harry."

"Harry Potter."

"Toshiro Hitsugaya." Thank god he remembered the strange Western customs. "Call me Hitsugaya. Everyone did."

"Aaah." It seemed that the subject was a slightly painful one with Harry.

"So, Hitsugaya…" Ron was determined to get the scoop on the Shinigami.

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"I am Draco Malfoy. You are?" the bleach-blond boy said imperiously.

"Momo Hinamori. I am your new guest," Hinamori said with equal snobbishness. "I am also your elder, Draco. You will respect me whether you like it or not. Understand that, boy?"

"You look younger than I," Draco said. He wasn't the only one surprised.

"You're a thousand years too early to be contesting me. _Boy._"

"And you are?" Malfoy Jr. was becoming angry.

"A Death God. I can kill you with a word, so be careful."

Malfoy blanched.

"Miss Hinamori," Lucius said. "The Dark Lord has given me instruction to start you at Hogwarts next year."

"Really? I was under the impression I was to help you with that pet project of yours. That ugly one."

"That. You do know that that was nothing more than something to keep you quiet, right?"

"No. If you work wrong, you will destroy the entire project. And I know how to keep it from doing so. Tell that to your Dark Lord," Hinamori said venomously.

"Oh? What will you do to me? You don't even have a wand, Miss Hinamori."

"Obviously, you haven't heard of Kido."

"No, I have not, Miss Hinamori."

Hinamori walked over to him. "I will just have to show you then."

"Blast spell four," she intoned, raising the index and middle fingers of her left hand. Two balls of light could be seen. "Byakurai." She touched his shoulder and a beam of white light slammed through flesh, bone, and the wall behind them.

"That was Kido."

"Voldemort will have his knowledge. You will wait, and I will report to him. Fine?" Lucius Malfoy snapped, holding his injured shoulder, which was currently steaming rather heavily.

"Fine by me." Hinamori went to the nearest couch and sat down. "You had better not be deceiving me."

Lucius Apparated.

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"Dumbledore, I have urgent news," Snape said. "It seems as though Voldemort has gotten help for his pet project. The one involving the dead."

Hitsugaya heard. He had gotten a report about it from Hinamori, but now it seemed as if they were on opposite sides of the war.

"What project?" he asked. "What about the dead?"

"Nothing, boy," Snape said.

"Why? I might be able to help. After all, I know more about death than the dead do."

"Do you know about a being called a Hollow?"

"They feed off other spirits and are able to be killed by destroying their mask. All else, you don't need to know."

"Other spirits?"

"You didn't know? A Hollow is basically a fallen spirit. They feed off other spirits, turning them into Hollows as well."

"What does it take to destroy a Hollow's mask?"

"That has nothing to do with you. Leave it to the ones who are created to handle such stuff."

"We've received word that Voldemort is trying to create an ultimate Hollow, one that can destroy the living as well."

"He's trying to remove its mask, isn't he? And did it gain a sword?"

"How did you know, boy?" Snape snapped.

Hitsugaya froze. _'Oh crap. They're such idiots, I just hope Kurotsuchi never hears of this.'_ "He's trying to create a Hollow hybrid, an Arrancar."

"Arrancar?" Dumbledore asked. None of this was in any of the treatises of the dead, not even the famed Book of the Dead. But then this boy seemed to know things that would make the world turn upside down.

"What happens when a spiritually powerful Hollow removes its mask. It gains power, so much power," Hitsugaya said.

"And how do you know this? What do we have to say that you aren't making this up?" Snape asked suspiciously.

"I know because I know. I speak to the dead. And you'll have to trust my word that it's the truth."

"Not even ghosts know that stuff."

"I wasn't referring to ghosts. I was referring to the true dead, the ones who have moved on."

"The true dead? You dabble in necromancy then?"

"Nothing of the sort. But it's a trade secret." _'Just don't ask about the hybrid part.'_

"I see. Thank you for your help, Hitsugaya." Hitsugaya left, searching in his sash for his cell phone to compose the next report for Soul Society. After all, wizards weren't supposed to know about Shinigami; they didn't forget that a Shinigami had been around when said Shinigami returned to Soul Society. It required Memory Chikan, which was also unreliable since the wizards were getting closer to a remedy. Damn.

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Hinamori was mentally practicing her Kido incantations when Lucius returned. She twitched.

"So?"

"You don't go to Hogwarts. Instead, _girl_, you and I are equal partners. For this project." The elder Malfoy shuddered. "And you have to teach at least one person the basics of your wandless magic.

"Fine. Tell your Dark Lord I accept." Hinamori smiled her 'evil' smile, the one she saved for when she wanted to intimidate the yokels who insisted on dating her.

"On one condition."

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"You'll love Diagon Alley!" Ron exclaimed.

"I'm sure I will," Hitsugaya said monotonously.

"You sound old, Toshiro," Harry said.

"Call me Hitsugaya-taicho."

"How about taicho?" Ron wondered. "It is an honorific, right mate?"

"Yes. I want to ask you a question, Hitsugaya-taicho," Hermione said. "Do you believe in wandless magic?"

'_Wandless magic? They need wands? What are those? But, it's best not to show her kido now,' _Hitsugaya thought, but merely said, "No. It should be impossible. Why?" He really didn't want to know the answer.

"There's a book in this library that makes mention of a cult that can do so. Apparently, they also utilize the dead. But it's only a few lines, and they never make mention of it again. It's like they suddenly forgot," the bushy-haired girl answered.

'_Crap. So a copy of_ that_ book did survive. I must destroy it. And then alert Soul Society to the possible presence of more.'_

"That's odd," was all he said. "Any descriptions?"

"No," the girl, Hermione, answered. "Here's the entire passage. It's strange."

((start passage))

And of the ones with the power of the Arts, the ones who patrol the dead, are the ones wizards must beware of and fear; the Grim Reapers. For they are the ones who send the souls to their destined resting place, and destroy the ones who would eat others. If one is not careful, one may meet up with these hellish ones, those of the dead. For Grim Reapers they are; they have a magic of the dead that only they can use. Beware these ones in black. Of this most dreadful creature we must say no more.

((end passage))

"That was strange," Hitsugaya commented. "May I borrow the book?"

Hermione looked reluctant, but handed him the book.

"Thank you." _'Now to send this on to Soul Society for immolation.'_

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2stupid: Yay! Things are getting suspenseful!

Tensa-chan: Yes. And what is Hinamori's request?

2stupid: Hermione is becoming suspicious!

Tensa-chan: What will happen? Tune in next time!

2stupid: Review!

Tensa-chan: Or else! (Muahahahahahahahaha…)


	6. Chapter 4

2stupid: Hiya!

Tensa-chan: Cheerios!

2stupid: Warning- never let us get near the glue!

Tensa-chan: Or any other stuff like that… or psychedelic mushrooms!

2stupid: Yay!

Tensa-chan: Hiccup.

Makori: Oh, calm down, you two!

Tensa-chan: Shut up, boy, or I'll call Thor back. And what are you doing clinging to that nuke!

Thor: I see. Take out the SAWs! aims … babababababababababa… He's down.

Makori: Damn you! I will get free!

Tensa-chan: Ah, shut up. Or we'll lock you in the box canyon.

2stupid: By the way, we thought up a funny disclaimer.

Tensa-chan: Disclaimer: We don't even own the plot…

Tensa-chan: BTW, Thor and I are trading Makori and 2stupid, so soon it will be Makori and Tensa-chan and 2stupid and Thor. Muahahahaha… we will rule the world.

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Chapter 4

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"This is Diagon Alley," an excited Ron told Hitsugaya as the doorway opened.

"That's it?" There were wizards and shops he was fascinated in, but he didn't dare show it. It was un-Captainlike behavior. And apparently he did not need to be stiff and cold, even if it was the way he normally was. Apparently he was supposed to gape like new Shinigami when first seeing their zanpakuto.

"What do you mean that's it? This is the best place to shop in all of Wizarding England!" Ron cried. Harry agreed.

"I see. Wizarding England must be small. Do they carry pets here?"

"Yes. Come on, let me show you." Ron dragged Hitsugaya off, with Harry sighing and following behind, resigned.

Ron dragged Hitsugaya first into the Eylops Owl Emporium. (AN: Tell me if I spelled Eylops wrong.) There were thousands of owls, great and small. Hitsugaya wondered if Hyourinmaru liked owls.

"That's not quite what I had in mind," he told Ron flatly.

"Tell me," he asked casually. "Do you have dragons?"

"Dragons?" Ron froze. "Why?" Apparently dragons here were a dangerous topic.

"No reason. I was just curious." Hitsugaya, who had long since changed into something that looked a lot like the Hogwarts and Karakura High School uniforms, shoved his hands in his pockets. There was a black surcoat (think robes), tan slacks, a short sleeved blouse, a cream-colored vest, and a black tie.

Ron looked pained.

"Right. I won't mention it again." Honestly, compared to his Hyourinmaru, they couldn't be that bad, could they?

Apparently they could.

"What's that alley over there?" The alley in question stank of unstable spells and demi-Hollows.

"That's Knockturn Alley. Dark place, God knows what they have there."

"Be right back." Hitsugaya shot into the alley so fast he could have been using shunpo. The alley would be a great place to search for extant copies of dangerous books.

"Hoy!" Ron cried, but Hitsugaya had wandered into a shop already.

"Welcome to Borgin and Burkes," the greasy-haired man said condescendingly. Hitsugaya was about to reply when he noticed a book on a shelf. Walking over to it, he took it out.

"What is this?"

"That would be the last surviving copy of a forbidden book. All copies vanished mysteriously in the early eighteen hundreds, without any known reason. The book is about the dead and the afterlife, or more specifically, something called 'Shinigami'. Not that they're more than a myth, anyways. You'd think no one'd be stupid enough to write a book on that. Anyways, it'll cost ye 45 galleons," the man said.

Hitsugaya had frozen when he heard the word 'Shinigami' and had only unfrozen when he heard the man was willing to part with the book.

"Have you read it?" he asked casually.

"Nope. This is considered a cursed book, so no one's too keen on reading it or even buying it."

"How about I take this book and any curse it may have upon you and your business away from you?" Hitsugaya had no money or intention to buy a book he could later steal when out of his gigai.

"Alright. But if you do that, I also want you to take this. It's a cursed sword that can kill the dead and has possessed its owners. I believe its name is Sangemaru."

"Sangemaru?" The name meant repentance. "Alright." Sangemaru fit the description for a zanpakuto, but Hitsugaya wasn't sure what one was doing here. It was time to call up Soul Society.

"Here. Now shoo." The man shoved the items into Hitsugaya's arms and pushed him out the door. Hitsugaya had just finished hiding both Sangemaru and the book when Mrs. Weasley caught up to him and decided to give him a lecture while dragging him by the ear.

"Why don't you have electronic stuff here?" Hitsugaya asked when the woman paused for breath.

"The magic keeps it from working, dear." She would have to tell Dumbledore that this boy was definitely muggle-born. A person with any magical knowledge would have known.

"Alright. Hey Ron, who's the girl?" Hitsugaya called to the now quartet of fifteen year olds eating ice cream.

"I'm Ginny," she said. "My mother told you about me, I think."

"She did. Went on about how good you were and all that." Hitsugaya had to force his mind off the zanpakuto and book to answer her question.

"Really? Mum seems to coddle me too much."

"That just shows how much she loves you. Never forget that."

"I know that," Ginny said exasperatedly. Hitsugaya merely shrugged.

"I'm sure you do. Hey, where'd you get that?"

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Meanwhile, Hinamori was having her own bonding time talking to the Hollow.

"So you say you were once a wizard by the name of Grindelwald?"

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Hitsugaya looked at Flourish and Blotts with a carefully blank look on his face. He had been good at studying, but to go through another school's entire repertoire of courses? And at a pace considered normal?

That Arrancar had better be worth it.

"Here you are, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, dropping a book titled _A Theory of Defense_ by William Slinkhard into his pile.

"Thank you," he replied automatically as Harry and Ron dragged him for his final purchase, a wand of some sort.

The shop was small, dusty, and cluttered, with thousands of wands on shelves, each with their own tiny reiatsu, (AN: which is what I'll be calling magic from now on, since 'energy emissions' is too long and it's supposed to be reiatsu anyways) none of which was near powerful enough to summon a zanpakuto. They acted more as a focus for the reiatsu, and—

"Toshiro!" Harry's call snapped Hitsugaya out of his brainstorming. At the very least, he would have to get one for Kurotsuchi.

"Hello, Toshiro. Welcome to Ollivander's. Your first wand, I presume." An old man had apparently popped up from nowhere, but Hitsugaya had been able to sense his reiatsu.

"Yes," he answered stiffly.

"In here, the wand chooses the wizard. We use an assortment of woods combined with a phoenix feather, dragon heartstring, or unicorn hair core." (AN: Yes, those are the only three he uses. It says so.)

"I see." Hitsugaya said stiffly. The magical animals were nothing but those with a bit of power in them from being near someone with a powerful, unrestrained reiatsu for too long. (AN: Like Tatsuki, Orihime, and everyone else.) Humans weren't the only life forms on this planet.

"Hmmm. You seem to be a powerful one. In honor of that I will show you a wand only those like Merlin were powerful enough for. None, not even Dumbledore or the founders of Hogwarts, have ever gotten a reaction from this one. It's from an Arctic pine, with heartstring of a frozen dragon found trapped within ice, dead for many millennia before wizardkind when dragons were the main source of magic. The pine was found growing over the dead body as a marker, its entire length a pure silver."

'_Interesting_,' Hyourinmaru hissed from the back of his mind. '_It suits you. Us._'

'_Yes._' Hitsugaya turned to the wand maker, who had more than enough spiritual energy to have awakened his zanpakuto. Maybe he already had; after all, it was only extremely rare, not unheard of.

If that had happened, he would have to be extra careful.

"Why me?"

The wand maker laughed.

"Why you? Because it was prophesized so. That a boy with secrets would claim the wand."

"Doesn't everybody have secrets?"

"Not like yours, no."

"What do you mean?" Hitsugaya was careful to keep his reiatsu under check.

"You hide your power well, but I can sense the beginnings of it. It's an inborn specialty of my family, said to be descended from—but that's not important."

Hitsugaya's brain was working overtime now. '_Does he mean he's descended from Shinigami? That would explain his relatively high reiatsu. Can he and does he have a zanpakuto? If so, has he learned to communicate with it yet or gone to Soul Society? And how much of my reiatsu can he sense?_'

In the end, Hitsugaya dampened his reiatsu a little more and acquiesced. He wasn't supposed to be the tenth division captain here, so he wouldn't. He would act like an ordinary human and carry out his mission like a good Shinigami.

"Ten inches, Arctic pine and dragon heartstring."

The moment he felt himself touch the narrow strip of silver wood, he felt Hyourinmaru shift strangely in the back of his mind.

"Souten ni zase, Hyourinmaru. Soar the frozen sky," Hitsugaya murmured softly. In the back of his mind, Hyourinmaru roared into life and flowed into the wood.

Harry could only gasp at the apparition that soared before him. The icy dragon soared around the small shop as if demanding room to fly, like and yet unlike a great, graceful, powerful serpent. He saw Toshiro flick his wand, causing the dragon to settle down around him as if protecting him against outside forces, and mutter something in a foreign-sounding language, causing the dragon to disappear.

"Bravo, young boy. That was well done." They turned to see an aristocratic man with silvery hair pulled into a ponytail applauding the spectacle. Next to him was a younger boy, equally aristocratic looking.

If Hitsugaya had not sensed the sudden spike in reiatsu and stopped Harry just as the aristocratic man stopped what was definitely his son, he was sure there would have been a fight of some sort.

"I apologize for the misdemeanor of my son," the aristocratic man said politely, looking Hitsugaya up and down carefully. "What is your name?"

"Toshiro Hitsugaya."

"Lucius Malfoy. It's nice to meet you. Let's go, Draco."

Hitsugaya watched them go, feeling suspicious.

"That was Malfoy, the bloodiest git in the world. Thinks he's better than anyone else," commented Ron. He continued to bitch after they paid and until they reached their Floo destination.

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"Hello once more, Toshiro. I want you to know that Voldemort has sent out Death Eaters to search for you. Therefore, you will be going to go to Hogwarts under an assumed name. What about Jerry Smith?" Dumbledore said once Hitsugaya had reappeared by Floo Powder, his hair now a diry gray color. Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling; even the best of Light wizards need revenge at times.

"No. I'll be going as Shiro. Shiro of Jyunrinan." _'Even if it makes me feel like Kenpachi,'_ he added mentally.

"Shiro Jyunrinan? And how do you expect to pass off your hair, Shiro?" Dumbledore asked.

"Bleach or magic. Whichever you prefer."

"Sheero Junrinaan? What kindda name izzat?" Mundungus asked suddenly.

"It's Shiro and Jyunrinan, you idiot." Hitsugaya's eye was beginning to twitch and he'd adopted an annoyed look.

"Whatever. Same thing." Mundungus was saved from total annihilation by kido when Dumbledore intervened.

"Alright. From now on, you are Shiro Jyunrinan. But really, do you have anything better?"

"I did propose to call myself Shiro no Jyunrinan, which is basically Shiro of Jyunrinan. And no, you may not call me Shirono Jyunrinan or Shiro Nojyunrinan or anything else you may have thought up."

"On second thought, Shiro Jyunrinan is fine. So, Shiro, why don't you clean off the soot? The shower's down the hall, and I know for a fact that Molly took you shopping in muggle London."

Hitsugaya dragged his purchases with him and went looking for the shower.

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Hinamori watched to make sure no one was watching, magical means or otherwise, before she reached down the front of her kimono and pulled out a cell phone.

'I found the Arrancar. Hitsugaya and I are doing the double-ended switch maneuver. Out." She put her cell phone back away.

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By the way, when I said Hinamori looked like she was ten. That was because she was pretending to look younger, since the younger people look, the more people tend to innately trust them. Interesting, no? Hinamori's using a modified gigai, so when she gets knocked out, they'll see a fourteen/fifteen/sixteen-year-old normal Hinamori. Hitsugaya's the same since he's so short and looks young. (approx. 137 cm. I think)

Also, you might say that the Order accepted Hitsugaya in too easily. Don't worry, they're researching things behind the scenes, but Hitsugaya doesn't know that yet, so I won't mention it until he does.


	7. Chapter 5

2stupid: Writing this is fun.

Tensa-chan: So we'll go straight into the action.

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Chapter 5

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A few days later Hitsugaya walked out of his room, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and dark blue pants.

"Hello, Shiro," Mrs. Weasley said cheerfully while shoving breakfast at him. "How was your night? I hope you were fine."

"It was."

"Hey, Shiro," Ron called. "Are you packing? We're supposed to catch the train tomorrow."

"Really?" Hitsugaya was sure by now that they were withholding information from him. "I must have forgotten." So they still didn't trust him. Not that he would, after hearing the official story.

He ran upstairs to his room to make sure that he would be the one to pack. After all, he needed to make sure that Sangemaru and the book were in his trunk. Hyourinmaru was not materialized on his gigai, but had somehow managed to enter his wand. Hitsugaya wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing or if it would affect the stick in any way.

He pulled out the trunk, a small but long one by human standards, and packed his few clothes and belongings in, then packed his school materials, intending to pack the book with them, but his cell phone rang.

Soul Society had called.

The instructions told him to send the book with a Hell Moth but to keep the sword and possibly find its rightful owner if he could, then recruit him. The zanpakuto's name and description had fit none of the archives in Soul Society.

Sighing, he watched as the Hell Moth took the book with it into a portal, then opened up a hidden compartment to put Sangemaru in. The sword wasn't large, more of a wakizashi or kodachi in comparison to katana, so there was no need to magically enlarge his trunk, something he had learned from reading his textbooks. All in all, he wasn't sure it would work, considering the fact that Hyourinmaru seemed to have warped his wand. The dragon chuckled in the back of his mind.

Slamming the trunk shut and using kido to lock it, Hitsugaya shoved it next to the door so he wouldn't forget it, then went downstairs to help clean the house.

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Hitsugaya looked at the bacon sandwiches, then at the train. It was the brightest scarlet he had ever seen, and was even blowing white smoke. His face like ice, he set off searching for a compartment.

"Hey, Shiro!" Hitsugaya turned around. Harry was waving him toward a compartment.

"These are Luna and Neville."

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Hitsugaya asked, his curiosity piqued.

Harry's face darkened. "Well, you see…."

After Hitsugaya had gotten Harry's explanation out, he understood the boy's resentment much better, even if he did not agree with it.

"Well, be glad for them. Finally, they have something that comes barely close to what you're famous for. It's a novel chance for them, so let them revel in it. I'm sure you did," Hitsugaya said dryly.

Harry hesitated, then nodded. "Alright then. But it seems unfair."

"That's just your puberty and hormones talking. Besides, they didn't really complain that much when you were in the limelight, did they?"

Harry gave up and conceded as a certain blond and his goons opened the door, saw Hitsugaya, and left without a word. Harry was about to mention Malfoy's strange acts when Neville distracted him about something called Mimbulus Mimbletonia. Soon after, the compartment was drenched in foul-smelling liquid, and Hitsugaya had been forced to do a swift shunpo to dodge the stuff. Luckily, no one noticed as he made himself scarce when the door opened to find an asian girl looking in.

Just then, he felt the presence of a Hell Moth. Letting it alight on his finger, he looked at it as the report made itself known to him. Hinamori had found the Arrancar and they were to keep their disguises and destroy any and all known sources of information about Shinigami. Then, in ten months, they were to destroy the Arrancar.

About to send an affirmative, Hitsugaya realized that everyone was staring at him.

"What?" he asked. "I think I'll be allowed to have a butterfly as a pet, no?"

"But the rules say only a cat, owl, or toad," commented the asian girl.

"Shiro," Harry said. "This is Cho Chang. Cho, this is Shiro Jyunrinan."

"Nice to meet you," Hitsugaya said in a distinctly cool voice he favored on certain of his misbehaving subordinates, namely one Matsumoto Rangiku when she's too drunk to do her work.

Cho shifted under his unrelenting gaze until Hitsugaya nodded and turned to the window, opening it to allow the moth to create a portal and fly back to Soul Society.

He didn't bother to shut the window. Outside it looked almost ready to storm, and Hitsugaya relished the thought of rain.

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By the time the train had pulled into Hogwarts, the skies had cleared and it was night. He was called over by a half-giant with a terrible accent and sent on a boat ride over more magical creatures before being led into a castle and into a large antechamber.

His thoughts wandered back to an incident that had happened on the train…

(((FLASHBACK)))

The compartment door slid open. Harry, Luna, and Neville watched as Malfoy and his cronies came in—and shut his mouth and left when he saw Hitsugaya. Hitsugaya had felt the distinct energy signature called a Death Mark that Hinamori had mentioned in her report and was fully prepared to use kido to throw him out.

"That's new," Harry said. "Usually he comes in and bitches around before leaving."

There was a dull murmur of assent in the compartment.

"That's nice," Hitsugaya said, his senses and instincts on 'high alert' in case of an attack. The boy reminded him of Gin, and it was not just the hair.

(((END FLASHBACK)))

Hitsugaya snapped out of his daze in time to catch the end of a sentence.

"—the Sorting Hat will determine which of these houses you will be entering."

Thankfully, Potter and Weasley had explained about the houses, so he wasn't too confused. Both of them had neglected to mention any type of hat though, and it sounded as if this one were magical.

So it should not surprise anyone that the first thought in his head was _'Damn.'_ A cool, detached part of his brain and Hyourinmaru both noticed that he tended to curse more now.

In the back of his mind, Hyourinmaru made a sound reminiscent of cracking ice, and Hitsugaya got the feeling his zanpakuto was laughing at him.

That Arrancar had better be worth it.

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Hinamori was observing the Arrancar before her.

"It seems to be relatively mature for one," she noted out loud before remembering that neither Aizen nor Hitsugaya were with her.

"Mature? It looks like a monster," Lucius said disdainfully, although he filed away the comment for later use. It seems as if the girl had knowledge about these ghost monsters. The Dark Lord would be interested in that little tidbit.

"Back before I left, there was a similar incident. However, that Arrancar resembled a Hollow more. So, transformationwise, this one would be more mature.

In fact, the Arrancar that had matured so much only a small fraction of its mask still remained; a jagged part over the right eye with a slitted eyehole, sweeping back into a pair of spikes oddly reminiscent of Kenpachi-taicho's hair. Mismatched eyes glared at her, amber-red and black for the one hidden beneath the Hollow mask, and an oddly gray-black one for the other, reminding one of polished hematite. Stringy black 'hair' writhed and twisted around the Hollow's head and shoulders, occasionally hissing. A long neck and muscled torso bore spiked projections along where an ordinary soul's spine would be, and the shoulders sported more spikes long enough to be psychological armor, especially when in silhouette. Limb-like projections were where the arms and legs would be, rubbery where the joints would be and armored everywhere else. The rubbery part could extend to catch prey further away, and a pair of talons reflexively opened and closed, as if the owner were thinking about eating. Hinamori was fairly sure that the thorn-like projections everywhere on the limbs were poisonous. A pair of bat-like wings sprouted from the hips, all crackling bone and bluish fire where flesh was supposed to be. Beyond that, the body continued on, serpentine, in the shadows where Hinamori did not want to go. There was a group of small lumps in the back she was fairly sure were heads. Possibly the Hollow's victims before the wizards knew better?

Hinamori wished she could destroy it then and there.

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Hitsugaya was thinking. It didn't help that Yachiru, unhappy with the amount of paperwork a Captain had, had sent him a Hell Moth.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the Hell Moth weren't singing to some human tune named "The Yellow Brick Road" or something like that. With different wording, however. And the song, with its insanely catchy tune, was starting to imprint itself in his mind. Hitsugaya suspected that Yachiru wanted him to embarrass himself royally by singing or humming it out loud by accident. Never mind that that would jeopardize his mission. In the meantime, the Hell Moth was fluttering over the heads of the student body and singing in a little-girl voice Hitsugaya suspected only he could hear.

'We're off to Hueco mundo,

The wonderful Hollow world.

We hear it is, it is, it is

a malevolent world of death.

Oh, we're off to Hueco mundo,

The wonderful Hollow world.

We know it is, it is, it is-

A malevolent world of death.'

Hitsugaya watched as the line became shorter as the lady in black called up names.

"Jyunrinan, Shiro."

He walked up with his 'Hitsugaya-taicho' face on and tersely put on the hat.

'_You had better be worth it, hat.' _

To his surprise, the hat talked back.

'I want to be in Slytherin. That way I can communicate with Hinamori-chan.'

'Can't do that. Gotta look through your memories and see if you're capable.'

'Hell no.'

'Fine. Pick a number between one and four.'

'One.' Hopefully, that was Slytherin, which sat at the far right table. Belatedly he realized that Westerners counted the opposite way.

'Wait!' But it was too late.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat roared out. Hitsugaya thought he heard triumph and amusement in the voice.

"Chikuso," he muttered under his breath, but the curse couldn't be heard under the cheering from the Gryffindor table. Well, at least Hinamori was a Vice Captain already and would know what she was doing. And she wouldn't betray him, so there was some other leak.

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was comparing a certain Shiro's profile with the one he already had of someone named 'Hitsugaya'.

The Hell Moth, sensing its mission was done after it had sung the verses off key well over 150 times, left to rest its voice.

Hitsugaya nearly cheered as it left, ignoring the toad-woman who was ending her speech; he was a Shinigami and therefore had nothing to do with the politics of the place. Instead, he helped himself to the food suddenly at the table.

There seemed to be a lot of meat and meat products, but that he could handle. He wasn't a vegetarian, after all; he just wondered how they got their daily nutrition.

He paused to look at what he was eating. It appeared to be a roasted chicken leg. Hitsugaya shuddered. They hadn't even deboned it or anything. How barbaric!

Suddenly, a picture of Ukitake popped up in his mind, telling him that it was rude and barbaric of him to think of others as barbaric and rude. (AN: haha, my little pun. Only available if you have insane vocabulary.)

Shoving the mental picture away—even Jyushiro disliked boned chicken—Hitsugaya began eating, until he realized he had no idea what half the foods around him were.

He decided to follow the youngest male Weasley's example, except that he chose to take in only a small fraction of what the boy ate. After all, he hadn't been using his reiatsu much recently, and therefore, as a soul, he did not need to eat.

It would jeopardize his mission, however, if he didn't eat, so he poked down the food.

Dammit, why didn't they send some Vice Captains to deal with it instead? Not that he minded the break from his paperwork.

Life was just too complicated. Being a Captain had its merits, but being the average Shinigami was definitely more restful.

He cheered up, however, when he noticed the watermelon being served for dessert. He took a few slices and got to work eating.

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Hinamori wondered if the self-styled Dark Lord could be more idiotic. A vein throbbing, she ground her teeth and contradicted him- _again_.

"I already told you, its not ready yet. The zanpakuto has not fully manifested and to use it now would revert it back into a Hollow, or even destroy the spirit altogether. You must wait at least eight months for it to fully mature!"

"No!" the Dark Lord contradicted. "We must use it now if we wish to gain the upper hand! The ministry is unprepared, and the attack will be devastating!"

"You fool! The attack will be a laughing matter! The Arrancar will self-destruct with barely any damage and you will lose whatever advantage you may have had!"

Voldemort was silent.

"I suppose you know best," he said. His voice was strained.

Hinamori abated, knowing that the Arrancar was only four to six month from ready and that by the time Voldemort thought to attack the Twelfth Division would have thought of some suitable cage for it- Both Kurotsuchi had mentioned that they wanted to study it further, and half the Twelfth Division backed them.

She had given them eight months to devise a method of restraining it.

"Lucius," Voldemort called. "Please take Miss Hinamori home with you. It's over for today."

Hinamori focused on a vision of the Dark Lord getting dragged through the Gates of Hell the entire trip back. This mission was starting to be really annoying.

Once at the Malfoy's mansion, which, in her opinion, was in need of repair, Hinamori locked herself in her room, slipped out of gigai, and began dialing on her cell phone.

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Hitsugaya looked at his schedule. The teachers were almost all members of the Order. _'Is this so they can keep an eye on me?'_ he wondered sarcastically. He already knew the answer. Picking up his bags, he left for Transfiguration, following the Golden Trio.

Professor McGonagall looked up as her latest student walked in late.

"I got lost," he said, precluding any questions as to his tardiness. Finding a spot in a discreet corner, he sat down, took out his books, and pretended to pay attention.

There was a soft blip as he hastily shoved something in his pocket; Professor McGonagall was in front of him, holding her hand out imperiously.

"I expect people in my class to pay attention, Jyunrinan. Five points from Gryffindor."

Hitsugaya sighed, and showed her his notes; it was an easy thing to listen with half an ear and copy down what he considered main points while composing a report about Hogwarts' ghosts and spirits to Soul Society. At least he didn't have Hollow duty in this world anymore. Standing around waiting for Hollows and performing konso didn't quite appeal to him.

Professor McGonagall left, confused, as Hitsugaya surreptitiously slipped the cell phone out again and finished his report. It seemed the wizards were beginning to bite off more than they could chew; wands acted as an amplifier as it drained a wizard's reiatsu, which made them primary targets for Hollows. However, most without near enough power to summon a zanpakuto, wizards had a hard time bringing them down. And now a wizard who, most assuredly, had enough power to summon one, even do shikai, had created an extremely powerful arrancar. Even if the three people he sensed who had enough power to do shikai worked together, it was unlikely they would be able to defeat the Hollow.

Maybe he should alert the headmaster of this school of his comments, even if it did complicate things; after all, it was what Hinamori did. He included the possibility in his report. Now it was the other Captains' decision. The bell rang just as he sent the report.

"Jyunrinan, stay here." As everyone else filed out, Hitsugaya packed his things and walked over to the teacher.

"What?"

"Who are you?"

"I told you who I am already, woman. You should know. Go look it up or something," he replied.

"We did. The records show that the last person matching your description died over five hundred years ago. He wasn't even a wizard. Who are you really?"

"His descendant." The lie slipped out easily. Then he winced inwardly; he had been far too young to reproduce when he had died.

"Really?" McGonagall looked skeptical. "He must have matured early then."

"It's a bit of a familial trait. The hair says all."

At that, McGonagall waved him out while coughing suspiciously.

'_That trick always works,' _Hyourinmaru commented from the back of his mind. _'Comment on something sensitive and they'll back off.'_

'_True,'_ Hitsugaya replied. _'True.'_

He returned from his mindscape to find someone snapping their fingers in front of him.

"What?" he growled.

"You zoned out on us there, mate. Didn't even respond when we yelled your name." Ron, of course.

"Are you sure you're fine, Shiro? Maybe you should visit the school nurse or something," a worried Hermione said.

Reminded of several of his previous visits to the fourth division, Hitsugaya shuddered. Kurotsuchi's specimens and Kenpachi's… remnants… weren't fun to look at.

"You're sure you're fine, Shiro? Go visit the nurse," Hermione's voice held a hint of command to it.

The last thing Hitsugaya wanted was for his gigai to be revealed, so he shook his head. After all, the false body didn't even have bones.

At times, it would have been nice to have Urahara Kisuke back.

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I have this weird feeling that I did the Sorting before….

Actually, eating drumsticks is fun. I don't care if it's barbaric or not. You should see what happens when my family gets their hands on chicken… At least no one's had to go to the hospital yet.

And Voldie is going to get much more evil soon. A massacre will appear….

Stay tuned!

Omake

Kenpachi was sitting in the dojo, bored. He had just spent a morning beating his officers into crap. Yachiru was, as usual, next to him. Suddenly, a portal opened and sucked him in. Yachiru, looking at it, decided to follow, and jumped in as well. Bad move, Yachiru.

Kenpachi looked up. As soon as he had been sucked through, something small and pink had landed on his head, knocking him out. He would have been willing to bet that it was his faithful vice-captain Yachiru. Their bond went further than friendship; they viewed each other as father and daughter. So naturally the girl would follow him.

A face appeared in his line of sight. Yachiru immediately cheered.

"Yay! Ken-chan's up! The nice guys said that we could stay here until we find our way back if we fight for them!"

Kenpachi blinked. This had to be a dream… No one would willingly allow him to fight. Then he sat up as he sensed a man coming in.

"So, you're awake. If you want to stay here, you could fight for us. Or you could leave and try to survive on your own."

"Of course I'm fighting," Kenpachi said, feeling much happier now that he was assured of a fight.

The man seemed satisfied. "Then you'll be up today. Since you seem to be a good fighter from where you're from, I'll let you fight that way. What's your name?"

"Kenpachi. Kenpachi of Zaraki."

"That's nice. I'll send someone to tell you when to fight." With that, the man left, missing the terrifying feeling of Kenpachi saturating the room with reiatsu. Yachiru, used to it, simply smiled and began waiting for the fight.

"Ken-chan won't lose," she said confidently. He had to admit that she was right. Still, it was troublesome as now no one wanted to fight him anymore. Well, maybe they would now.

A few hours later, the man came in again. "Alright, you're on. Just go down this hallway to the right and you'll enter the arena. When you get there, you can start fighting. Alright?"

Kenpachi was already halfway down the aisle, Yachiru following him. Who knew where she would find a seat?

Kenpachi entered the arena to find a group of men fighting each other and a few beasts. Smirking evilly, he pulled out his blade, set it on his shoulder, and strode out.

None of the fifty battlers paid much attention to him- until he strode up to one heavily armed gladiator and sliced him across diagonally. The two pieces of the man stayed together for an instant before the splattered across the hot sands in a bloody shower. Kenpachi smirked as the others backed away from him slightly. They seemed to be fit enough.

What followed would be described as a massacre. Yachiru, who had positioned herself on the balcony of the emperor Nero's box, pouted slightly.

"Ken-chan isn't having fun," she complained. "No one's fighting back." In reality, the men were attempting to put up a guard as the Asauchi slashed through them. Within minutes the slaughter was over.

"Ken-chan!" Yachiru chirped as she jumped off the railing and down to him. In the audience, several women fainted from what they saw as a suicidal leap. By now, Nero was extremely displeased. He had lost several bets amounting to almost a million sestercii. (75 sestercii was enough for a middle-class family to live off of comfortably for three months.) You could say Nero was pissed. He was so pissed he got his bow out and aimed twice.

Down in the arena, Kenpachi watched nonchalantly as an arrow bounced off him. Looking downward, he saw Yachiru pull another one out of the air an inch from her eye.

(Or you could have Kenpachi catch the arrow and Yachiru say "Ow!", "Owie!", or "Ouchie!" (or something amounting to that, such as "Itai!") as the arrow bounces off her forehead. That would be funnier with Sakura (Naruto), though.)

Nero was about to shoot a third shaft as Yachiru suddenly appeared in front of him, having used shunpo. She slapped him hard.

"Be nice! Don't shoot at Ken-chan!" she scolded. (Like she does to Kenpachi after his and Ichigo's fight.) At that point, a portal appeared and sucked Kenpachi in. Seeing him go, she decided to follow.

They reappeared on the grassy hill near the thirteenth division backyard training grounds. Jyuushiro, who had been sitting there watching his two third seats spar with Rukia and Kaien, smiled.

"Ohayo," he said.

(Next time; Soi Fong appears and fights in the time of the evil, decadent, cruel Emperor Claudius. Yes, that was his name. He was gay, too.)


	8. Chapter 6

2stupid: Yo, it's us again!

Tensa-chan: One, two, three, fo', fi'e, six, se'en, eight, nayne, ten.

2stupid: Please ignore Tensa-chan. She's learning a new dialect.

Tensa-chan: Shut the (bleep) up! At least I'm not a (bleep) like you!

2stupid: Gasps Attacks Tensa-chan

Makori: And while they're doing that, on with the story. Hey, Thor! Stop trying to take over the world! runs off

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Chapter 6

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Life quickly settled into a routine. Hitsugaya woke up, mentally started at the unfamiliar surroundings, (talk about a way to wake up!) remembered the past few days/weeks/month, got dressed, brushed his teeth, and took a shower while carefully not waking anyone else in his dorm up, went down to and ate breakfast, went to his classes, listened for anything regarding Shinigami, Hollows, Arrancar, or the Dark Lord, went to lunch, did the same, went to dinner, studied and did his homework, and went to bed. At the end of two months, Hitsugaya was ready to stick a chikongai (soul candy!) in his place and hightail it out of there if he weren't a) uncertain that the wizards wouldn't be able to detect it (aka. Maybe they can tell it's just soul candy) and b) sure that a soul candy could gather info efficiently. It would be troublesome if he botched his job.

He wondered if it were possible to be bored to death if one was already dead.

On October 23, he woke up to the sound of chattering cell phone. When he read what he also needed to do, he nearly groaned.

Voldemort had managed to attach seven more Chains of Fate to his soul without destroying the original, then attached them to inanimate objects. As of now, he had lost three, but had created a gigai-like body with an artificial chain—one that was liable to shatter in the foreseeable future. Hitsugaya was sure that the humans thought he had split his soul, which was impossible. The man had used high trauma and forbidden spells to accomplish the feat, like the group of Shinigami defectors had done to become Vaizado. Hitsugaya's new mission was to locate the inorganic bodies and detach their Chains of Fate. Soul Society had not given him permission to give any information about Shinigami or Hollows, even if he were to use Memory Chikan on them later.

It was time to visit the headmaster's office. At least it was a weekend. He would have time to search out the man's reiatsu and question him. It was time to add on to his fabricated story.

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Hinamori, meanwhile, had also settled into a routine. She woke up, ate, went to experiment with the Arrancar, went home for lunch, went back and listened to the Dark Lord's planning through the afternoon, went home again, ate dinner, locked herself in her room, and sent reports back to the twelfth division. All in all, she was happy with her routine, even if she missed Aizen. At least the worst experiments they did on the Arrancar were less gruesome than the ones the twelfth divisions did regularly, although that was probably because they didn't want to damage their specimen.

Life was good.

On October 23, Hinamori received a certain call as she woke up. As she read it, her face got dismayed, angry, and worried by turns. It ended in a frantic look as she shoved her cell phone elsewhere as an angry rap sounded.

"Miss Hinamori, since you decided to teach Kido, the Dark Lord wishes for you to teach him. He's in my living room and demands your presence." Hinamori yanked on her uniform, pulled her hair in a ponytail, and ran out, knocking over an angry Lucius on the way. He got up, a shoe imprint on his face, and limped slowly after her.

"I'm really sorry, Voldemort-san. I accidentally slept in late today." Hinamori bowed. "Malfoy-san told me you wanted to learn kido. Well… the basics of kido require you to picture a dark circle in your mind, imagine yourself going to that circle, and pushing power into it. Then you say the incantation, the number of the spell, and focus the power out. For some of the stronger spells, you need to make hand signals as well. Of course, with most people's level of kido, they won't get to that point."

Voldemort stared at her.

"What?" he finally croaked out. It wasn't everyday you received a crash course in a totally alien subject.

"You didn't understand me?!" Hinamori wailed. She hated teaching idiots and people who sucked at kido. Abarai Renji happened to be one who fit into both categories; it was amazing that he had actually made it to Vice Captain.

"I didn't say that," Voldemort swiftly demurred, somehow alarmed. "You just need to slow down."

Hinamori blushed, smiled and rubbed the back of her head. "Ah, gomen. My friends told me I do that some times."

Voldemort did not fail to notice the intentional 'told' Hinamori had used.

"Do not do it again," he warned, although he had no idea how he was to enforce his threat. The stupid girl didn't seem to be threatened by anything the Dark Lord tried.

She would have to go.

"Alright, then, Voldemort," Hinamori began. "We will start with the first binding spell. It's called 'Sai,' which means 'Obstruction.' It creates a rope of magic that binds the person's hands. To do that, you gather your magic and imagine it in a rope wrapped around the other person's wrists, tying them up. You might also want to say the name of the spell, which is 'Bakudo #1; Sai.' You shouldn't have problems with this; it's so simple any academy student could do it. I'll even demonstrate, if you wish."

"Please do."

"Alright then. Bakudo #1; Sai!" Hinamori didn't need to concentrate to do the basic spell anymore, so she just pretended to do so. She allowed only a weaker rope of power to snap a recently arrived Lucius's wrists behind his back. The surprised man dropped with a grunt.

Voldemort looked at him, interested. If he did this to the Muggle-Lover and Scarface, he would win easily. "Bakudo #1: Sai!" Nothing happened.

"Did you call on your magic?" a slightly exasperated Hinamori asked. "You do need to do that, you know."

"How do you call your magic?" Voldemort asked.

"I'm not sure, but it probably involves those wands of yours."

Voldemort frowned. He had been looking forward to a type of wandless magic. Now he was told he needed his wand.

"You said it was wandless."

"It was supposed to be. Until you couldn't manipulate your magic."

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

"That's the basis of kido, baka!"

"The Dark Lord is not a baka!"

"You don't even know what the word means!"

"I have a good idea!"

"BAKAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Voldemort had shoved his hands in his ears while poor Lucius was semideaf. Hinamori twitched and pulled out Tobiume from where it had been behind her kimono.

"Don't you dare try anything, _boy_!" she cried as she waved the blade threateningly in his face while releasing a rather large amount of killing intent into the air. It was a technique used to discourage perverted/lecherous bullyboys from the eleventh division.

It worked. Voldemort squeaked and backed away and would have pissed in his pants and said "Mommy…" if he weren't a dark lord. Hinamori really liked her virginity.

"Sorry for scaring you," Hinamori squeaked, embarrassed. She sheathed Tobiume. "Try it with your wand."

Voldemort pulled it out. "Bakudo #1: Sai!" he cried, pointing it at Lucius but thinking of Hinamori, who felt a weak bond drag her wrists back and hold them there.

"Good job, Voldemort! Now undo it by cutting off the flow of magic. Basically, stop concentrating on the spell."

"What?"

"Like this!" Hinamori concentrated on the bindings on Lucius, which vanished. The Dark Lord frowned, then stopped the spell. This was going to be hard. "You should practice, and later your spell should get stronger, although you might just suck at it."

"Then how come you can do it?" Voldemort asked, irritated. The first person to cross him after this is so going to get tortured… come to think of it, several of his Death Eaters have been rowdy lately."

"I'm a Kido specialist, that's why. I practiced for centuries to reach my level of proficiency." Hinamori deigned to mention what her level of proficiency was.

"Centuries?" She was older than him! No fair! (AN: The Dark Lord's turning into a baby….)

"Yep! And at this rate, you can master this one and perhaps another by the time you die!"

"I'm not going to die, girl!"

"I know that."

"Crucio!" Hinamori took one look at the beam of light and shunpo'ed out of its way. In her experience, spells were usually far more powerful than they appeared. The spell hit Lucius, who began screaming in pain. Hinamori stepped back, afraid; these wizards were barbarians, attacking their own.

"Bakudo #1: Sai!" Hinamori sealed up Voldemort's arms to stop him.

"Let go of me, stupid girl!" the Dark Lord yelled. Hinamori remembered her mission regarding his capture or annihilation.

Hinamori hoped nothing would come of his learning an improper use of Kido. Hopefully, one of his spells would backfire on him.

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Hitsugaya twitched. Apparently, the wizards thought to reveal some of his psyche by having a dress-up session. As a result, people were asking him what he would dress up as; Halloween was on Sunday, aka. Day After Tomorrow.

Yeah, right.

Frowning, he stroked Sangemaru's sheath. If he wanted, he could go as a samurai or something, since he had the wakizashi (Sangemaru), katana (Hyourinmaru), and uniform (duh). But the blades would attract unwanted attention. And if he didn't dress up at all, he was bound to attract attention as well, which was bad for his disguise. Which was why he was currently in DADA, pretending to read a book while thinking of something.

Then the idea hit him. Swallowing a pill Kurotsuchi had promised would make his gigai ill, Hitsugaya knew it would be disgusting. However, unlike just about everything else, the man made, it wasn't. He began coughing, and soon flecks of red appeared. He nearly raised an eyebrow; how chronic did the twelfth division captain make this?

Soon he realized it was not only his gigai, but him. He could feel his senses fade in and out of tune, and swore to give that man a good castration the first chance he got; it was likely an untested version, or only tested on mod souls that wouldn't feel anything after. After a couple (1.5) of minutes, he decided he was getting nauseous and decided to faint, hoping he'd wake up again. The last thing he heard was the 'plop' his gigai made when he accidentally dropped out of his seat…

'_Damn. I didn't want to be noticed until the end of class. Stupid Kurotsuchi. Old men shouldn't be so stupid,'_ he thought. Then he let darkness 'claim' him and began formulating what he would say back at Soul Society.

Elsewhere, Kurotsuchi looked at his pills and realized he had given Hitsugaya a defective one. He tried to contact the other via Hell Moth but instead received an image of an unconscious gigai. Damn.

"Nemu!" he cried, then sneezed hard. "Tell the captain of the fourth division that the captain of the tenth will need medical help soon and that she should send in a squad as soon as all the wizards were gone.

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"Taicho," he heard a voice say.

"Kotetsu-san? What are you doing here?" he asked mentally.

"Taicho, if you don't wake up, Unohana says she'll have Minazuki swallow you."

Hitsugaya woke up, free of the gigai, and nearly vomited.

"Stupid Kurotsuchi. He gave me a defective pill."

"Which is why we're here, Hitsugaya-san," Unohana said, slinging Minazuki back over her shoulder. "Although you're going to have one hell of a time in your gigai. Side effects include nausea, vomiting, fever, and numerous other things. Why did you persuade him to give you that one?"

"I didn't. I got in ten years ago for the other mission, and just kept it since. I'm actually surprised it took Kurotsuchi so long to realize he gave me a defective one."

"He was cleaning out the storehouses and just happened to remember."

"I see. He couldn't have cleaned them out yesterday?" Hitsugaya considered asking Unohana to berate Kurotsuchi, but decided to do it himself.

"Apparently not, taicho. It was amazing he even cleaned it out; there was a strong movement to just use Haien and be done with it."

"Good for me."

"Bye, taicho," Isane called. "See you in eight months. By the way, the nurse is coming." She and Unohana virtually dove through the gate as Hitsugaya slammed himself into his gigai.

"You know, headmaster, I've never seen these symptoms before. If he doesn't wake by morning, I don't think he'll wake up at all. In this case, wouldn't it be better to send him to St. Mungo's?" a feminine voice Hitsugaya assumed was the nurse came into view.

"No. I believe that there is a certain secret the boy is holding. He will wake up before dawn, I know it."

"Oh." The feminine voice sounded a bit miffed. HItsugaya rested his head on his arms as he took a good look at the room, not withstanding the gigai's blurry sight. Moonlight shone through several windows and onto the stone floor. A door to his right opened, revealing a motherly woman and the headmaster. Hitsugaya wondered if it would be easier to just abort the mission, even if it put a stain on his reputation.

"You're awake!" a shocked nurse said. "You've been out for 36 hours, you know. Halloween is in the morning, and it's one already. I am Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse."

Hitsugaya blinked. Not nearly enough time passed. He was short a full 24 hours. Luckily, the nurse took it for surprise at having been out so long and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Unfortunately, at that moment the defective pill chose to make itself known as he leaned over and barfed next to her feet.

For the first time in a while, he could sympathize completely with Ukitake as he finished a rack of dry coughs, not needing to know that the liquid at Madame Pomfrey's feet would be red. Was this what happened when one got a severe cold? Being the wielder of a powerful ice/water type, Hitsugaya had never gotten one before. It was as if the cold temperature around him sanitized himself.

Well, at least he probably didn't have to dress for Halloween. On the bad part, anyone could search through his belongings and he was probably well known by now. Then another thought struck him. He wasn't wearing his school uniform… who had undressed him? The thought stuck in his brain, refusing to go away.

"What?" he asked. "The headmaster is here, so I assume you have a question for me."

"Do you have any idea how you got sick?" Dumbledore asked.

"No." Hitsugaya glared at him. Adults were so troublesome! He was about to retort when there was a commotion outside. It was the DADA teacher.

"I heard a student was sick here," she said importantly. "I have taken the chance to inform St. Mungo's and they will be here shortly." At that, Hitsugaya nearly panicked and shunpo'ed out. Why did this mission have to be so hard?

"I'm fine now," he growled instead. "Really. Would I be up this late if I weren't?"

"Nonetheless, you will allow St. Mungo's to treat you in case there is a reoccurrence," she said smoothly. Hitsugaya could have strangled her.

"That would be the day the Apocalypse arrives," he told her. He would have preferred to say 'over my dead body' but then she actually might have it dug up and presented it to him, and then where would he be? After all, several bone remnants were probably still around on this plain.

It was then that he realized that she did not realize he was a Shinigami. It showed how the gigai was messing up his brain. (AN: Hitsugaya's healed, but the gigai's not.)

"Then the Apocalypse has arrived now," she said sweetly. Suddenly, there was a loud booming noise on the horizon.

"We've noticed," he muttered back as he began probing for any reiatsu he could find. It was just ordinary wizards and humans. "What was your name again?" he asked suddenly.

"I am Professor Dolores Jane Umbridge to you. And you are merely a student." The woman looked miffed.

"And your point is?" After all, he was also the youngest captain of the Gotei 13 _and_ a super-genius to boot.

"Don't you be insolent with me! Detention for a week!"

"Whatever." He actually had to restrain himself not to stick out of his tongue, something he usually did not do.

"Two weeks! Another insult and it'll be a month!"

"I insulted you?" Hitsugaya took the opportunity to call to Hyourinmaru.

"A-" the woman was cut off by screams and shouts.

A low, icy roar sounded in the distance, followed by a definite chill in the air and the sound of moving ice.

Hitsugaya wondered why he was acting so out of character.

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"Bakudo #1: Sai!" Voldemort screamed, frustrated. Nothing happened.

"Concentrate your magic, baka!" she yelled at him.

"I'm trying!"

"Then why isn't the spell working?!"

"Because you're not focusing your magic on the spell!"

Voldemort had decided he wanted to learn without wands. So far, the greatest he had been able to do was to create a few wisps of reddish light. Not good enough.

Hinamori finally had enough and threw a candle at him. "You're talentless," she declared. "Just use the damned wand!"

"_I'm_ talentless?" Voldemort cried. "I was the best damned student at Hogwarts in my day!"

"I'm sorry," Hinamori said. "I don't know why I lost my temper." _'It must be this stupid mission,'_ she thought. _'Neither Shiro-chan nor I are good at manipulation. Nor do we like it.'_

"Let's try again," she suggested. "Maybe it'll work out better this time."

"It had better," the Dark Lord grunted. "Bakudo #1: Sai!" This time, the poor human sod's arms actually snapped back and stayed back.

"You did it!" Although all the people Hinamori had taught had learned it within an hour- even Renji.

"Now what? I want to learn an attack."

"Actually, you might want to practice to make sure you've got it down. Once you can do it five times consecutively, I'll teach you how to shoot lightning."

Hinamori left to get some rest.

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HIYA! Since they're going to be using kido from now on, I decided to show you a list of the ones that have been, are, and will be appearing in this fanfic!

**Bakudou #1** - Sai ("Obstruction") This spell is used to paralyze the target.

**Bakudou #9** - Geki ("Conquer") Surrounds the target in a red light that restricts movement.  
_Incantation: Disintegrate, black dog of Rondaniini. Look upon your burning soul and sever your throat._

**Hadou #4** - Byakurai ("White lightning") Fires a bolt of lightning from the caster's finger.  
**Hadou #31** - Shakkahou ("Red Flame Gun") Attacks the target with a red blast of fire.  
_Incantation: Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Scorching heat and disorder, evolve the transposition of the southern sea barrier._

**Hadou #54** - Haien ("Incinerating Flame") Completely detroys a target by burning it to ash.  
**Hakufuku ("White Prostration")**: Causes a target to lose consciousness.

Now…. REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Or I'll set Kenpachi on you!

(Yes, that was the worst rhyme in the history of my bad rhymes!)

Now…. REEEEVIEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(That was supposed to be like the dramatic opera song endings… it's ain't over till the fat lady sings, and this soprano just trilled.)

Until next time,

REVIEW!


	9. Chapter 7

2stupid: Yo, what's up!

Tensa-chan: Be quiet. Thor and I are trying to take over the world.

2stupid: WHAT!

Makori: WHAT!

Thor: Hell yeah! We're going to nuke the important places and then build an evil city in Antarctica!

Tensa-chan: It's called 'The Lair'.

Thor: We took over the world…. Using stolen, blackmarket uranium from the Czech republic….

Tensa-chan and Thor: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA….

Thor: So enjoy this chapter….

Tensa-chan: While you can!

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Chapter 7

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Hitsugaya was currently wondering just what had happened to the people from St. Mungo's. It wasn't as if their… explanation… of being attacked by a dragon made of ice should make any sense; after all, to Europeans, it wasn't plausible. In the back of his mind, he knew materializing Hyourinmaru had been a good idea.

Turning around, he went back to the Gryffindor common room. Saying the password to the portrait, Hitsugaya climbed in, an effort hampered by his lack of height. Seeing that, a twin pair of redheads came over and helped him.

"Thanks." He turned around and walked away.

"Gee, George, he really isn't cheery, eh?" Fred asked.

"No. He could use some cheering." With that, the Weasley twins began planning their latest prank, and Hitsugaya nearly ran to protect his possessions. On the way there, he noticed a sign posting for official tasters for some Weasley Wizard Wheezes. No thank you, his gigai was messed up already. Who knows what the things they're creating will do to his gigai?

Nonetheless, he would drop by for a look at their products.

Once on his bunk, he pulled out Sangemaru and Hyorinmaru and closed the curtains of his four-poster. The closed curtains formed a small cubicle in which he could examine the zanpakuto better, providing no one attempted to open the curtains, of course, but that was highly unlikely. He unsheathed the two blades and lay them in front of him so the hilts faced him, parallel, then dove into his reiatsu and mind.

(((IN SHIRO-CHAN'S MIND)))

He was standing ankle-deep in a snowing landscape. Ice nearby formed a frozen river fading off into the distance, and harsh winds drove stinging snowflakes-his memories, thoughts, and self, each one unique- at him.

"Hyourinmaru!" he called. Almost on command, the ice dragon flew out, its icy wings cutting into the storm effortlessly. It embodied the world around it. "I need your help contacting the other."

'_I will help,'_ the apparition hissed in his mind, the very sound of its voice that of the wind. Hitsugaya might control his zanpakuto, but until he mastered bankai, Hyourinamaru controlled his mindscape. Not that Hitsugaya minded what it was- it would likely be the same when he controlled it. _'Soar with me, in this frozen sky.' _

Obediently, Hitsugaya took off, using his own limited abilities in this world to gain wings. Together, the two of them took off through the thick, almost black cloud layer, and soon Hitsugaya could tell they were leaving his mind- a true dark nothingness settled through him, and he soon caught sight of a blur of vibrant colors up ahead.

'_Can all zanpakuto do this?'_ he asked his.

'_Yes, but we usually don't tell our wielders that.'_ The dragon sailed onward. Suddenly, they were falling through the sky towards a harsh desert below. Hitsugaya landed in the sandy landscape, bare, even, and huge, filling up half the mindscape.

'_Here,'_ the dragon called, and they began following tracks, undoubtedly of the zanpakuto itself. As they progressed Hitsugaya noticed that the sand was getting darker, until it reached a tarry black. Likewise, the air around them was getting smokier. Soon, they came upon a deep valley, the only difference in the landscape. Sandstone covered the walls here, sandstone that was tinted black with the presence of a magnificent beast down below.

It was a dragon.

To be precise, it was a two-limbed, two-winged black-scaled monstrosity larger than Hyourinmaru. Where natural orifices would be burned only a sullen red flame the color of old blood. It was the source of the thick, choking smoke. When it growled, its voice shook the entire valley, and sand cascaded in, only to be turned into a red magma that formed the dragon's bed.

"I am Sangemaru," it said.

'_Hush, little one,'_ Hyourinmaru spoke to him. _'I will deal with this.' _

Hitsugaya willingly backed off.

"I am Hyourinmaru."

"Why are you here in my domain?" (AN: The zanpakuto's mindscapes/domains are a lot like N-Fields from Rozen Maiden- the owner of the mindscape has a natural advantage.)

"We seek your master."

"He is not here, nor has he been here for a while yet."

"Where is he?"

"He is dead, but not dead. Alive, but not alive. That is all he allows me to tell."

"So he is a dead spirit who has not had konso performed on him?"

"If you wish it to be so." However, Hitsugaya froze, something clicking into place.

"I should leave now, before something strange happens to my wielder. Thank you for your help."

As they left, Hitsugaya could here Hyourinmaru ruminating on his breakthrough- as with all higher-level Shinigami, his zanpakuto and his mind were often linked.

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Hinamori blinked as she studied the Arrancar's zanpakuto; she had asked for it to see if she could 'strengthen' it, and the Dark Lord had given it to her. Not very smart of him, and now the Arrancar had been moaning for his blade, aggravating everyone in the building until Voldemort finally resorted to Silencing him.

Hinamori wondered what could be taking her Shiro-chan so long with his part of the mission. She had gotten enough information on the Arrancar to satisfy even Kurotsuchi, and could also use Kido to ship it back to Soul Society. Which left the other two parts of the mission; search and destroy, and recon. Hinamori knew that she and Hitsugaya both would have to do the recon, but that Hitsugaya was doing the search and destroy. It was embarrassing to realize they hadn't even gotten one clue how to find the extraneous Chains of Fate- they would probably have to end up pushing Voldemort out of his body projecting their reiatsu at a level strong enough to show the other chains, although it would leave the two of them drained, especially after cutting through them.

This mission was a bummer.

She returned to studying the zanpakuto. It was large- around fifteen feet long, with a blade three feet wide, and another ten-foot handle to boot- but she carried it around effortlessly. What made her nervous, though, was the fact that the reiatsu comprising the blade was sharp, compacted into a sword sharp enough to shatter others.

It was the blade of a Captain-level Shinigami.

And Hinamori was afraid of its capabilities.

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Hitsugaya put back the two zanpakuto, noticing idly that it was morning and that it was raining. Well, roaming around in one's mind always took a long time. He got dressed and went down for breakfast. Hopefully, this weekend he could drop some hints about Voldemort and hope to get in on whatever his artificial gigai were. In the common room, the cell phone in his pocket began buzzing, and he absently picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Hitsugaya-taicho. This is Genryuusai-soutaicho, and I don't want to talk to your ear." Hitsugaya pulled the phone away from him and settled down in the most obscure armchair he could find.

"Yes?"

"You have permission to relate knowledge about Shinigami, so long as it's nothing much about us and it's easily retractable. Hinamori has already done so, and has informed me of your loss." Well, he could trust Hinamori to embarrass him while helping him at the same time.

"Thank you."

"Try only to relate information about our Soul Reaper duties and about gigai. It would be best as if you were to project yourself as the last of an occult group or something similar."

"Like the Quincy?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Yamamoto-soutaicho." The line buzzed and went dead. Hitsugaya rose and put the phone away just as Potter came down the stairs, complaining about… extra lessons with Snape?

"Potter," he called, rising and joining them. Harry jumped at what he perceived as a Shiro-chan walking out of the shadows.

"What?"

"How much information do you need about Voldemort?"

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"What?" Hinamori stared at Voldemort, flabbergasted. "That was so fast!" The Dark Lord had mastered the first binding spell.

"Alright, then. Hadou #4-"

"What's the difference between Hadou and Bakudo?"

"Nothing much. It's based on what they do."

"I see. Now, Hadou #4: Byakurai. The name means 'White Lightning.' There's an incantation for this one; it's fairly short."

"I see. And what may it be? The Dark Lord does not wait for insignificant pricks like you, so speak."

Hinamori sighed and fluttered her fingers at him. "Calm down, Voldemort. First I have to tell you the basics of this spell. Instead of imagining your magic flowing out and binding the target's arms and hands, imagine it being pushed from your finger, wand, or wherever you want the spell to emanate from."

"My finger." (AN: Haha… I can just imagine Voldemort shooting it out of his forehead just to spite Potter.)

"Alright, then. I trust you know how to control your magic?"

"Lord Voldemort is not the Dark Lord for nothing, girl. Speak or I will be rid of you."

"Ah! Sorry. So you imagine your magic flowing out as you say the first the type and number of the spell, then the incantation, and finally the name of the spell. Knowing the name of the spell would make it more powerful."

"Really? And if I chose to do it without speaking?"

"It is generally believed that speaking the type, number, and name of the spell makes it stronger, and since your opponents don't have any Kido training, then they can't do the spell themselves."

"I would like to know what the incantation is, girl."

"But-"

"What is it?"

"I forgot it."

"WHAT?!?!?!" Voldemort's screeches could be heard fifty miles away, even through the silencing wards.

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"So you say you have information on Voldemort that no one else has?" the headmaster looked at Hitsugaya in a way that resembled Yamamoto greatly.

"Yes." Hitsugaya decided to get it all out in the open. "I am fairly sure you know about Voldemort's semi-immortality? I know how and he did it, and how to counter it. So if you want to know how, you may ally with me."

"What makes you so certain I cannot simply reach into your mind and take the information?"

"What makes you think you can? I am a Soul Reaper, one of the last of my kind here. I have had to exorcise and destroy spirits, and I know just what will or will not affect me."

"How do I know what you're saying is true?"

Hitsugaya stood up to look directly into the man's eyes, cursing his lack of height. "Can wizards do this?"

Suddenly, they were standing in his mindscape.

"No," the wizard admitted. "Where is my magic?"

'_It is unavailable while you are here,'_ Hyourinmaru said from behind them. _'Be glad you are welcome here.'_

"Where is here, and what is that dragon?" the old man asked, something clicking into his mind.

"This is my mind, and the dragon is my… guardian spirit, Hyourinmaru."

"Does the name have any specific meaning?"

"Ice Ring. As you may have surmised, Hyourinmaru is an elemental spirit of ice. His presence grants me certain… abilities. Abilities that might come in handy in your little war."

"And how do I know that you will help us and not Voldemort?"

"You don't."

"Hitsugaya, if I wanted, I could make your life a complicated misery."

"So now you're trying to threaten me?"

"Why don't we say you had a relapse and send you over to Headquarters to be under trial? During that time, you will have to tell us all you know."

"Fine."

"Under Veritaserum."

"What?"

"Truth Potion."

"NO!"

"All or nothing."

"I can't." He stared out at the horizon in debate, clenching his jaw. "My superior won't allow me to."

"You have a superior?"

"That is not your problem."

"On the contrary, I can appeal to your superior if I must."

"He will not see you."

"Why?"

"We Soul Reapers were a powerful group once. That ended when one of the enemy in disguise asked to meet our superior and managed not only to get into our headquarters, but also slay many of our best and brightest at the same time they launched an all-out attack on the rest of our group. We managed to repel them off, but at great cost." Hitsugaya wondered if Dumbledore would see through his lie. "As leader of a war, you know how dangerous it is for leaders to be vulnerable."

"How come no word of this reached the wizarding or muggle newspapers?"

"We are better at keeping secrets than you are. Did you truly think you were the only secret group on this planet?"

"Alright," Dumbledore said after contemplating the matter for a long while. Who said there were no other magical groups around? Some had sealed themselves in conclaves since the advent of the Dorian Greeks. "If it must be this way, then it must. Only I ask you to be completely frank with us."

"Fine."

"I'll announce it at breakfast, but take this portkey and it'll send you to Headquarters once Shacklebolt arrives. Until then, wait here." A sound in the fireplace made the Headmaster turn. "Ah, Kingsley, you're here. Take our juvenile delinquent here with you and get to the Order's headquarters will you? I'll be portkeying you there."

'_I am _not_ juvenile!'_ Hitusgaya thought. _'I'm at least 100 years older than he is! He has no right to talk!' _Whatever else he was going to say was lost in a storm of blurry colors as he moved at insanely fast speeds, buffered by magic. They finally stopped in the kitchen of the place, and Kingsley sat Hitsugaya down on a rough bench.

"You will stay in your room until further notice. Is that clear?" he asked, looking for all the world like he was on duty.

"Yes," Hitsugaya responded in kind.

"We will summon you to our next meeting. There, you will tell us what you know."

"What about my belongings?"

"They will be sent after the meeting." Hitsugaya recognized it as part of a procedure regarding potentially dangerous persons. At least he had his cell phone.

"Oh, and we will also be searching your body for dangerous articles." Mentally, Shacklebolt cursed himself for nearly forgetting such an important part of the procedure. "If you do not wish to be strip-searched (and I know you don't), please hand in all dangerous articles."

Hitsugaya cursed mentally, deactivated the phone's line to Soul Society, and handed it over. Shacklebolt looked at it with a blink. "I was referring to your wand."

"I don't have it with me. It's back on my bed."

"Oh."

"You might want to send someone to get it before it is noticed as a discrepancy."

"I'll get it after you're safely interred."

"Stop making me sound like a dangerous animal." Hitsugaya sighed and leaned back with his arms tucked behind his head. "Geez. Old men sure are confusing."

"I'm only twenty eight, you know. And doesn't that position hurt?" Admittedly, the edge of the table _was_ digging into his back, but the look on the Auror's face when he said 'no' was priceless.

"So now what?" He asked after an uncomfortable pause.

"I guess you go off in your bedroom. By the way, you do have to-" Whatever he was going to say was cut off by Sirius. (AN: He went to an Order meeting earlier on. So he does know some characters.)

"Why's the runt here? I thought that he was off at school with my godson."

"I have to attend an Order meeting."

"Riiiiight. I don't believe you."

"It's the truth," Shacklebolt interjected. "He has potentially useful information about You-Know-Who."

"Just say his name, for crying out loud. It's 'Voldemort.' Capital V, lowercase o-l-d-e-m-o-r-t. Vvoollddeemmoorrtt."

Sirius and Shacklebolt looked slightly panicked.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked. Adults were really confusing, especially living, breathing, human adults.

"Don't say his name!" one of them hissed.

"Why?" Without waiting for a response, he continued. "Old men are confusing."

"We're not old!"

"Good! Now help me find my way across this freaky large house!" The two men stared at him. Hitsugaya glared back. They should at least treat him with respect, dammit!

"You know, you might just be a Death Eater."

The silence was deafening.

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"You'll just have to learn the spell without the incantation," Hinamori reasoned. "Not only is it faster that way, but your opponent can't copy you because he won't have the incantation. Besides, the incantation is in a different language. I doubt you could learn it."

"I want the incantation! Give it to me, girl, or I will torture it out of you!"

"Fine! Give me five minutes, and I'll tell you what I remember!"

Five minutes passed, and Hinamori had decided to give Voldemort the incantation to a Hadou in the thirties. (31, Shakkahou)

"Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Scorching heat and disorder, evolve the transposition of the southern sea barrier," Hinamori recited. It wasn't as if she were going to teach him anything other than a few basic kido only weakling rookies would use.

"Now go practice."

"Do not talk to the Dark Lord as if he were anything less," Voldemort sneered distastefully.

"I'm not."

"Are you being insolent?"

"Hinamori Momo apologies for anything wrong she did." Hinamori fled out and slammed the door behind her. Collapsing onto her bed, she hugged her pillow tightly. What was getting into her?

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'_Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there, _

_With open arms, and open eyes, yeah.'_ – Copyright some random song.

Hitsugaya blinked. He could have sworn he just heard Hyourinmaru, of all zanpakuto, humming in his head.

"Are you all right?" He asked worriedly. "You never sing." It took him a while to realize he was talking aloud, and another few minutes to realize he was alone.

"Oh, crap. Now I'm talking to myself, _out loud_." Well, at least he could hope that he wasn't under surveillance, although that was highly unlikely.

Down in the kitchen, Sirius and Kingsley were having a good laugh over his discomfiture.

"And if I _ever_ find out anyone's having a good laugh over my discomfiture, I will personally castrate him."

That shut them up.

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Hinamori woke up in the dark to the sound of her zanpakuto singing.

'_Tobiume?'_ The song continued.

'_He doesn't look a thing like Jesus, _

_But he's a gentleman_

_Like you imagined when _

_You were young. _

_When you were young. _

_More than you'll ever know.'_- Copyright another random song

'_Tobiume?' _

'_They say devil's water, it ain't so sweet, _

_But you don't have to drink right now. _

_But you can dip your feet, _

_Every once in a, little while.'_ –Copyright same random song as directly above

'_Tobiume!' _

'_I don't care if it rains or freezes, _

_So long as I got my plastic Jesus_

_Sittin' on the windshield of my car.'_ –Copyright yet another random song.

'_Tobiume!' _

'_I know, you don't know_

_I know, you don't know _

_Take me home.'_- Copyright the fourth random song.

'_Tobiume!!' _

'_What?'_ her zanpakuto asked.

'_Why are you singing?' _

'_I'm trying to drop you hints about your fantasy.' _

'_Aizen-taicho!' _

'_No.' _

'_But it's Aizen I like!' _

'_Just wait and see.' _

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Why is it that everyone describes Gin's eyes as being red? The last time I checked, the manga cover for Volume 20 gave him blue eyes. Is this some part of the anime I missed? Especially since I was watching it at 1 in the morning in the dark on a small laptop sitting on a couch with it jouncing around in my lap?

Also, though I am referring to Hitsugaya as a Soul Reaper, Shinigami more accurately means "Death God."

I believe I'm adding a bit of HitsuHina just for the fun of it… And yes, those songs are real. I just love them! (yes, even the plastic Jesus)

The KIDO DICTIONARY:

**Bakudou #1** - Sai ("Obstruction") This spell is used to paralyze the target.

**Bakudou #9** - Geki ("Conquer") Surrounds the target in a red light that restricts movement.  
_Incantation: Disintegrate, black dog of Rondaniini. Look upon your burning soul and sever your throat._  
**Hadou #4** - Byakurai ("White lightning") Fires a bolt of lightning from the caster's finger.  
**Hadou #31** - Shakkahou ("Red Flame Gun") Attacks the target with a red blast of fire.  
_Incantation: Oh ruler, mask of flesh and blood, all creations of the universe, fluttering of the wings, ye who bears the name of man! Scorching heat and disorder, evolve the transposition of the southern sea barrier._

**Hadou #54** - Haien ("Incinerating Flame") Completely detroys a target by burning it to ash.  
**Hakufuku ("White Prostration")**: Causes a target to lose consciousness.

Group of char after hrs getting food from kitchen


	10. Chapter 8

2stupid: HOLA!

Tensa-chan: KONNICHIWA!

2stupid: We are planning to take over the world and proclaim the goodness of GOD!

Tensa-chan: Join us if you're Christian and join us if you aren't!

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Chapter 8- Christmas Update!

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Hitsugaya blinked. He could have sworn Hyourinmaru had just admitted to singing. Sighing, he turned to bang his head against the bedpost anime-style. He then realized he was probably being monitored and attempted to regain his lost dignity… before he realized he wasn't wearing anything. Growling, he pulled out a navy-blue, long-sleeved shirt and American Army fatigue pants. (is there a difference?) (and, of course, the requisite underclothing. He DOES wear underwear.)

(AN: Sorry, but there's a random sound outside my window that sounds like aliens are going to land. I really don't yet do want to know what it is, and I'm too afraid to check… Now it's making my jaw muscles hurt.)

He was attempting to unlock his door to use the restroom when he realized he didn't have a key. Not only that, but his gigai felt crappy. In a literal sense, like it needed to take a 24hr shower with Epsom Salts. Down in the kitchen, Kingsley and Sirius were commiserating with him.

'Hyourinmaru?' he asked the zanpakuto, wondering where it was.

'Here. They're looking at me and exclaiming over what dangerous, enchanted objects you have.'

'Well then, they're idiots.'

'Oh, and you might want to put something on. The two watching you are getting suspicious of your 'momentary lapse' and are coming to get you.'

Hitsugaya cursed mentally and dragged his clothing on, Hyourinmaru's amused laugh ringing in his ears.

Kingsley and Sirius came just as he finished, escorting him to the room where Dumbledore was explaining the mysterious judiciousness the ghosts suddenly sported for him. It could just be that he was a Shinigami, although Hitsugaya was willing to bet that they were low-level Shinigami. The one called the Bloody Baron was even probably from the Eleventh Division, seeing as only they would have the unmerited temerity to go out bloody and scare the crap out of whoever.

It only made him irritated. Genryuusai-dono was seriously going to be pissed, and Hitsugaya for once didn't have any idea how to control the situation.

"Yes?" he inquired politely. The distrustful stares everyone else was giving didn't help, and he felt himself go on the defensive, like his reaction to his division's first reaction to their new captain.

Harry looked at Shiro. The kid had crossed his arms, pulled on a frown, and tilted his head in a manner that suggested arrogance and irritation. Beside him, Ron murmured that he looked like a Death Eater.

"What do you know about Voldemort that we don't?" Dumbledore asked quietly, using his Legilimency to attempt to pry the boy's mental defenses.

Hitsugaya looked at him. "I know how to destroy him."

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Hinamori looked at Voldemort, who had make no progress whatsoever. After all, a ball of flame and a strand of lightning were two very different things.

"No, not like that!" She cried after his last failed attempt. Hopefully he would quit soon. "Watch; Blast Spell four: White Lightning!" She completely demolished a delicate porcelain vase at the opposite end of the room.

"Damn girl! Are you sabotaging me on purpose?!"

Hinamori squeaked and gave him the puppy eyes. She really hated being considered subversive. Unable to take the hidden glee in his eyes, she turned around and fled for the safety of her room.

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Hitsugaya blinked as Dumbledore blatantly denied his request.

"That is impossible! We have tried for near fifty years and still have not managed to do it!"

"It is possible. The methods by which he contains his soul bound to this plane can be severed."

"You speak as if it were a rope."

"A chain, actually."

"That would be more fitting," Dumbledore agreed, his eyes regaining their twinkling.

"So you can sever his chain?"

"Nine of them, to be precise. Three have already been shattered, five remain, and another binds him to his false body."

"His false body?"

"His original chain, one all living mortals have, was shattered with his death. The one he has now is an artificial, unstable construct that could self-destruct if the soul is overloaded."

"Overloaded?"

"Too dangerous to attempt. What you want to do is break the other five, which lead to inanimate or dead objects, which will stabilize his chain. Then you can kill him."

"And if we don't destroy the others?"

"The false body will self-destruct, destroying anything within a large radius of itself. Then what's left of his soul will wander until it possesses someone or something, usually a random passersby or one of his constructs."

"And you know this how?" Dumbledore hated to admit this, but the theories the boy was putting out matched the facts he had on Horcruxes.

"I'm forbidden to tell you without consent from my superior, who wouldn't give his consent anyways."

"Who is your superior?" Hitsugaya decided to just tell them. After all, what harm could it do?

"Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni-soutaicho-dono."

"Yama-what?" Ron asked.

"Yamamoto-soutaicho. The head of Seireitei. Along with the Central 46, anyhow."

"Did you just say 'anyhow'?"

"Does it matter if I did?"

"Yes! It means you're acting like a person your age!"

"A person my age would be dust."

"But you're eleven!"

"Of course I was."

"What?!"

"Long, long story."

"We have time."

"No you don't. It would take you three reincarnations to finish."

"Surely not that long!"

"What did you expect?" Hitsugaya felt tempted to stick his tongue out at the other. Damn those adolescent feelings.

Ron flapped his mouth in impotent rage.

"Enough," Dumbledore said. "What game are you playing?"

"Kinjirareta asobi."

"What?"

"Kinjirareta asobi. The forbidden game." After all, Shinigami weren't supposed to tell humans about the soul. They were supposed to be here only to traffic souls.

"Kinjirareta Asobi. What does the name mean?" Dumbledore asked. This was his chance in a lifetime to learn about a culture secret to even the wizards.

"Nothing in particular. The forbidden game." (AN: Raise your hands if that made sense to you.)

"And why would it be forbidden?"

"It isn't."

"Then why name it so?"

"Because it is."

"If you don't give a straightforward answer, I will be forced to use Veritaserum on you, and since the sleeping draught affected you, it stands to reason that Veritaserum will as well."

"What makes you think you can administer it?"

"Stupefy!"

"Kyoumon!" The spell reflected off the Mirror Gate and hit Tonks, who toppled over. "I refuse!" Hitsugaya unleashed his reiatsu in a sharp, uncontrolled, snap. The temperature dropped several (dozen) degrees and Hyourinmaru began humming in tune with its master's wishes, eagerly anticipating whatever bloodshed would come its way in the future."

"Stop!" roared the headmaster, releasing his own energy in retaliation. For an instant, blue green eyes met cerulean, and Hitsugaya forced himself to back down, touching the place on his chest where the limit would be.

"Hyourinmaru," he grated out. The zanpakuto's eerie humming grew louder. "Stop." The blade subsided sullenly.

"I don't have to help you, you know," he told the old man. "I could go and wind myself in with Voldemort, then strike when the time's right- which may be after your little war."

"You may be powerful, but the power isn't developed very far, and it's weaker than mine. What makes you think the Dark Lord will help you?"

"A pity. But he might consent to train me if I swear to his loyalty. I might even claim to grant him the immortality he searches for."

"A pity. He would torture it out of you first."

"Not if he can't catch me."

"Well, in any case, please bring back Miss Tonks."

"It was your spell that hit her. The Kyoumon simply reflected it back."

"Enervate." Tonks rose up, much to Dumbledore's surprise.

"Whew! That hurt! What did he do in the first place, anyway?" she attempted to sit down but missed the bench and tripped into the table again. Out in the hallway, Mrs. Black heard, woke up, and began screaming imprecations.

"Meeting is adjourned for now. Kingsley, Sirius, Remus, please escort Toshiro here back to his room." Hitsugaya led the way out of the room and slammed the door behind him. The other three had to open it again to follow him.

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Hinamori looked at the time. "It's 11:52 already. You should go get some food and rest to replenish your magic, then try creating the spell without the incantation." It wasn't her fault that people with higher spiritual pressures tended to lack control over their reiatsu.

"NO!"

"Do you want to die of loss of magic?" Hinamori asked worriedly. She hadn't lost a student yet, and wasn't planning to, even with this stubborn, muleheaded, grandiose, manipulative idiot. It was a wonder he was still around and kicking.

"I am Lord Voldemort!" the old man (ha!) said. "I will not die!"

"Yes, you will! Your soul will disintegrate into nothing if you keep trying to force a manipulation."

"I will not!"

"Yes you will! I don't plan on letting anyone die!" There was silence.

"I am immortal."

"As a pig."

"Crucio!"

"Hadou #4: Byakurai!" The kido slammed into the spell and obliterated it. "And if you want, use your wand!"

"Avada Kedavra!" Hinamori dodged, shocked. The spell was capable not only of killing a normal soul (ie. Cutting the Chain of Fate), but also knocking a Shinigami out of gigai.

"Bakudo 9: Geki!" A red light surrounded the Dark Lord and paralyzed him in place. "Think over what I said." Hinamori turned around and walked out of the room before undoing the spell and shunpo-ing to her room in the Malfoy Manor.

Left to his own devices, the Dark Lord admitted to his bodily needs and ordered a house elf to get food.

Hinamori felt his reiatsu move around, then blink out, and sighed. He was even more obstinate than Shiro-chan!

Well, hopefully he would take her advice and give the Twelfth Division some more study time. After all, they creeped the rest of Soul Society out. (the nerds)

Tobiume sighed in its sheath. Despite her violent shikai, the zanpakuto preferred abstinence to fighting, and it showed. Now if only her master could master bankai.

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Up in the privacy of hiding under the blankets, Hitsugaya reported the results of his information to the self-styled Order. Needless to say, Genryuusai-dono would not be pleased.

Down in the meeting room, Dumbledore shared his suspicions on the Shinigami to the rest of his society, which eventually debated the truth…

In the old Riddle house, Voldemort ate some food while considering a way to kill Hinamori unobtrusively after she had taught him all she knew; she was powerful enough to be a threat.

In the Malfoy manor, Hinamori mourned the fact that her limit made Voldemort more powerful than she was… he was definitely Vice-Captain material.

On the table of Grimmauld Place, Sangemaru plotted in its sheath as it planned to join its old master in the real world and showing what true power was.

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"I want my swords back," Hitsugaya told the members of the Order, who had decided he wasn't a Shinigami, after all, but a crazy sword buff from an ultra-secret society.

Dumbledore handed them over without comment. However, when he reached to grasp Sangemaru, the blade hissed in an exuberance of incredible heat, scorching the headmaster's hand.

Holding his blackened hand to his body, the headmaster watched as Hitsugaya carefully picked Sangemaru up by the sheath, holding a sharp grip on it with his chilling reiatsu as well; the owner was calling his blade to do death, and the blade wanted to meet its master.

"How troublesome. It seems that the idiot dealer sold me an enchanted weapon. Well, I'd best be sending it back so it doesn't ruin my life one day." In reality, Hitsugaya would keep the blade locked in his trunk under several binding spells, choosing not to relinquish it to Soul Society.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like us to do it for you?" a random Order member asked.

"No."

"It'll turn on you one day, laddie. Never mistake that. Best be rid of the thing." The new speaker had a single living eye, the other a construct much like a gigai. His name was Alastor Moody, commonly called Mad-Eye.

"I will- to the proper authority, however. May I borrow an owl?"

Dumbledore politely pointed to the owl behind on a random shelf. Hitsugaya picked up its cage and walked out.

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Hinamori looked at Aizen.

"Captain!" she cried joyfully.

"Hinamori-san," the man greeted back warmly. He was tall, with wavy brown hair the color of cinnamon bark and a kind, open face traversed by metal, square-rimmed glasses. Hinamori ran to the Captain of the Fifth Division. It wasn't often that he visited her office.

"You do know you're not supposed to be here, right?" His rich baritone (he has one, right?) was velvet to her ears. "But I'm not going to tell. So how's your mission?"

The two talked until dawn and Hinamori had to return to the living world. She bade her Captain goodbye reluctantly and slipped through the portal, following the Hell Moth.

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Hitsugaya looked out the window. It would snow that night, and he would have been cold in his new room if he hadn't been master of an ice/snow type zanpakuto, although he had the feeling that the house had heating charms.

"Enjoying the view?" Sirius asked, motioning his head towards the large, paned window covering a whole wall.

"I'd prefer privacy." None of the windows in Soul Society had been this large… except maybe a few…

"That's what drapes are for." Sirius nodded towards the curtains at the end of the room.

"I'd also prefer a lot more light."

"Well, be thankful that the house elf Kreacher isn't around."

"But I thought house elves were helpful," Hitsugaya commented before realizing no one had brought the subject up; the thing had only been mentioned in old records he had written.

"They're supposed to be. But Kreacher's been twisted around in the head so much he only listens to a painting of Mother in the hallway."

"How is your mother?"

"The old witch? She's dead." Sirius shrugged, uncaring, and Hitsugaya felt slightly aghast; it was hard to find family in Soul Society.

"But she's family!" he argued his point.

"She disowned me." Hitsugaya sighed. Things here were different than in Soul Society, vastly different.

"I see," he said, although he didn't. His life had been filled with examples of those willing to sacrifice all to find their loved ones, and to find someone who disowned their relatives truly unsettled them.

"What about your family?" Sirius asked.

"They're dead." Which was true, only not in the way Sirius thought; Hitsugaya knew they were still in Soul Society, living safely in Rukongai. Still, he had chosen to become a Shinigami, and they had let him. He still went out and visited them some times.

"I'm sorry," Sirius offered, sounding genuinely sympathetic.

"Don't be. They're in a better place."

"You don't sound sorry. That's a bit hypocritical for someone who appears to value family as much as you have."

"I know they're in a better place. I've seen them."

"That's impossible. It was a dream or something."

"I was awake."

Sirius was adamant. "You can't have seen them."

"Whatever. I rest my case." Hitsugaya turned back to watch the sky grow darker and heavier. It would rain soon.

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Hinamori heard knocking just as she mussed up the bed as if she had been sleeping in it.

"Coming!"

It was the Malfoy.

"I would like to inform you that you're going to have company this year; for the next two weeks, my son will be here as well. I trust that you will be civilized with him."

"Of course!" Hinamori said. "Christmas, isn't it! My favorite time of year!"

"And please do not go outside unless necessary. I do not wish for you to track dirt and snow all over my house."

"It's snowing?" Hinamori moved over to the draped window and threw it open. Outside, the snow had blanketed the landscape in a white that reminded her of her childhood friend, and more was softly falling through a heavy, leaden sky.

"Not the best days," she confirmed Lucius' agreement.

"No, but it is a private place. I will see you later, Miss Hinamori. Oh, and my wife is coming home this time as well. If you wish to live in peace, for heaven's sake please be civil with her!"

"A female dragon?" Hinamori inquired dryly.

Malfoy nodded fervently. "But even she wouldn't dare bother the Dark Lord or suborn his wishes."

Just then, sound of a carriage came rattling up.

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Cliffie! Review! I even gave you an Omake this chapter!

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OMAKE!!!

Yoruichi sat up. She had been pulled via portal into a world where she could test her skills. Next to her, Soi Fong murmured in her sleep.

"Oi," she called, poking the other. "Wake up, we're in two minutes. They set us up with our weapons and strong enemies so long as we don't release our zanpakuto."

Soi Fong yawned. "It'll make for good practice, Yoruichi-sama." They had made a deal with the same guy Kenpachi had.

The head of the Second Division and the ex-head of the Second Division stood up and left the small, dark room where they were and went out the gate the same time the announcer finished, well, announcing them.

Yoruichi noticed without rancor or alarm that the gate behind them- and all other gates- had been barred shut. However, she was quite prepared for when the floor (slowly to them) slid open and released… a rhinoceros, a lion, tiger, elephant, and… Hollow? What was a Hollow doing here?

"We have taken the expense to contract a beast native to these two gladiatrices' land to fight them. However, due to the fact that these two gladiatrices will only fight once, you have a once-in-a-lifetime to see this fight! Bet on which will win: gladiatrix or beast."

Soi Fong yawned. These were only Hollows. They were nothing a Captain and ex-Captain couldn't handle.

But first, to take down the others. The Hollow looked perfectly fine waiting. Without further signaling, she and Yoruichi ran at the four beasts. The elephant went down, slashed behind its leg tendons as the lion and tiger tore into it. The rhino was covered in heavy gray hide-armor, but there were chinks. Yoruichi threw Soi Fong up at it, then watches as Soi Fong rode it around, whooping gleefully as she finally woke up. All too soon, Soi Fong pulled out Suzumebachi and stabbed it behind the third thoracic vertebra, causing its legs to stop functioning. She hopped off only to be bowled over by the tiger, whom she kicked into the air, where it collided with the lion, which was leaping at her.

"Oy, a little help here, Soi Fong!" Yoruichi called as she attacked the Hollow. Suddenly, its form split in half, revealing the Arrancar inside.

"What the fuck?" Soi Fong cursed under her breath. It was one of the ones who had first appeared in Karakura town.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said, unzipping part of his jacket to reveal his hole. "Yo soy Arrancar numero uno, Ulqiorra."


	11. Chapter 9

2stupid: Konnichiwa.

Tensa-chan: It's still morning, dolt.

2stupid: Oh. Ohayo.

Tensa-chan: Now it's afternoon, dolt.

2stupid: But you said it was morning fifteen seconds ago!

Tensa-chan: Fifteen seconds ago it was 11:59:50 AM. (hr:min:sec)

2stupid: Oh.

Tensa-chan: So spit it out.

2stupid: What?

Tensa-chan: shakes head. Never mind.

2stupid: What? scratches head

Tensa-chan: Konnichiwa, dolt.

2stupid: Oh. the burned out lightbulb over her head flickers.

Tensa-chan: scathingly _Yes_…..

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Chapter 9

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Timeskip to December 13? (aka. the day after Harry had his snake dream)

Hitsugaya sat and watched the snow fall. It was winter, and every winter Hyourinmaru seemed livelier, especially if there was snow around that he hadn't made.

'_It's beautiful, master,'_ the zanpakuto breathed. Hitsugaya could feel its icy breath in his mind's ear.

'_It is,'_ he agreed. _'Why do you call me master? It's annoying?'_

The dragon laughed, but did not answer.

'_Is it because you like annoying me?' _

Again, only soft laughter.

Hitsugaya heard the door open behind him, but didn't turn to look, despite his Shinigami training that said otherwise. The snow was too mesmerizing; there was something special about this type of soft, deep snow in the mortal world.

"It's bloody freezing in here, mate," the person behind him complained roughly. "And what's so interesting about the bloody snow?"

"Each to his own, I suppose," Hitsugaya said icily. He had long since stopped feeling the discomfort most associated with cold- as soon as he had first contacted his zanpakuto and its power, as a matter of fact. But the feeling had always fascinated and comforted him, like a child with a favorite blankie. (Not that he would mention it to anyone, of course.) "What do you want?"

"Mum says its time for dinner."

"What're you doing in here in the first place?"

"It's almost Christmas, and-" Ron broke off.

"Well?"

"Dumbledore said not to tell anyone. Especially you." _'Especially you.'_ The phrase seemed to ring in Hitsugaya's head as it invoked less pleasant thoughts from his past.

"I see." His words betrayed none of his introspection, nor the feelings that rose in his throat, making him nauseous.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked worriedly. "You sound like you have a fever or something. I don't want to get sick, you know." _'I don't want to get sick, you know.'_ Those were the words Hinamori had spoken to him when she first met him, after a spectacularly bruising fight against a few older kids from one of the worst districts… wait. Why was he ruminating on the past? He was a captain and too old to be ruminating! That passed once a person was 150!

"I'm fine," he said, turning to the other boy. "Do I look sick?"

"How would I know, mate? I'm not a healer." Then he caught sight of an unsheathed Hyourinmaru on the bed.

"Whoa," he whispered. "That's a bloody awesome sword you've got there!"

'Sword? _He dares call me a_ sword?' Hyourinmaru growled, lowering the temperature of its physical body to somewhere around 0 K (absolute zero, for you science ignoramuses out there.).

Sadly, Ron tried to touch it.

"The sword froze me!" he cried.

"Please don't call it a sword. Its name is Hyourinmaru."

'_I have a gender, you know,_' the zanpakuto said resignedly, by now used to whatever insults it would be called.

'_I didn't.' _Hitsugaya turned to Ron. "Now what? Are you going to stand here or go get medical attention? You want to put that finger somewhere warm before you catch frostbite."

"Alright, Shiro. Just don't forget to come down to dinner, alright?"

"I'm coming." He felt his pride drop dead (finally!) from all the times he had been called 'Shiro.' He sheathed the zanpakuto to avoid another person with frozen fingers taking umbrage to him.

The moment he came down, he realized something was wrong. Everyone was staring at him.

"What?" he asked, irritated.

"Nothing," Harry answered. "We're just testing out this idea of Hermione's that says that if we all stare at a newly-arrived person, it will make him worried and think that something's wrong."

Hitsugaya blushed furiously. "Well, its true. I used to do it to others."

"Why won't you tell us about your past?" Sirius asked from behind him. Hitsugaya barely maintained the image of self-poise.

"Because I like secrets. They make me feel as if I have some control over the insanity my life has become."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Blame my superior for sticking me in this blasted mess in the first place, even if unintentionally." Hitsugaya sat down a long bench.

"He's blamed," joked Sirius to general snickers and a few giggles. Hitsugaya, who had no sense of humor, ignored the animagus.

"Or my best friend, who decided I was to be here and not where she was," Hitsugaya added acidly.

"Where's your best friend?"

"She's off somewhere I don't know. I haven't had contact from her for a while."

"Whass she look like? Is she single? Whass 'er name-" Mundungus was cut off by Hitsugaya's glare.

"She's unavailable to the likes of you," Hitsugaya answered shortly. "Ron, you told me your mother was serving dinner."

"Dinner is served!" Hitsugaya watched as her twin sons- who had quit school earlier in the year- made a fiasco of bringing the food out. Interestingly enough, they had all become rather subdued at the mention of some person named 'Percy,' especially the woman.

"Who's this 'Percy?'" he asked the person nearest him, who happened to be Ron.

The boy grimaced. "He's my git of an older brother. He's really toady and obnoxious." He stabbed his fork into his potato.

"Don't waste good food," reprimanded Hitsugaya, who knew some people who had been continuously hungry until they had entered Seireitei. His vice-captain was one of them.

"Don't lecture me!" Ron replied indignantly. "I'm older than you are!" Hitsugaya didn't bother correcting him on that part; he didn't want to be subject to questions as to how he was 'so frickin old when he looked so damned young,' as Renji had put it. He settled for a nonchalant 'whatever'.

He really wasn't acting like himself.

A figure in the shadows smirked. He would have to report to his… new master… now that the old one had told him to 'get out,' about this new member who may be who his new master is looking for.

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Narcissa Malfoy had gotten over Hinamori fairly quickly after Hinamori reassured here that she was 'pureblood,' whatever that was. Well, she was a Shinigami anyway.

Draco Malfoy proved to be another point. Snobby, obnoxious, and egotistical, he resembled Shiro-chan in so many ways but seemed just the opposite of her childhood friend. But even he could be polite and charming at times.

"Dear Ms. Hinamori," She read. "I would like to be your partner at a ball my parents are hosting on Christmas Eve." She froze.

"Of course!" He was no Aizen or Shiro-chan but he could while away the hours until she finally got permission from Soul Society to go after the Arrancar.

'_What could be taking Kurotsuchi-taicho and Kurotsuchi-fukutaicho so long?'_ she wondered. _'Surely it's not_ that _interesting.' _

But apparently it was, and they were still working on it.

She decided to ask Soul Society if they wouldn't just prefer Hitsugaya to just freeze it in his ice prison and transport it back that way, and pulled out her cell phone.

And also for permission to interact with a mortal. There were limits to even a Shinigami on recon's freedoms.

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Hitsugaya sighed. It was becoming a habit. He sighed again.

"What's wrong?" Dumbledore asked, having conjured a fire in the dead fireplace and warmed the room to a toasty 311 K (37 C, 86F?, or body temp. Damn Fahrenheit for his crazy name and temp scale.) Hitsugaya didn't mind the heat, but preferred it cold. He suspected that there would be some open windows after he left. "You haven't been sleeping."

"I don't know," Hitsugaya said. "I just can't sleep."

"I'll leave behind a bottle of Dreamless Sleep, then, when I leave. Take a cup for a good night's rest." He pulled out a bottle filled with liquid, then got up and left, leaving the door ajar.

"Besides, it might have been the temperature, you know," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. "I've heard that people have a hard time sleeping when it's cold."

Hitsugaya was more worried about overheating, since his body had gotten used to cold over the past few weeks and now it was… hot.

Even so, he found himself looking at the bottle, then going over and measuring a cup out. Hyourinmaru watched from its position on his bed, for once silent.

Drinking it, Hitsugaya felt his gigai become lethargic, and barely forced it over to the bed until it began affecting him and he curled up over the covers clutching Hyourinmaru to his chest like a toy.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Weasley came in to make certain that he had drunk, saw him, and snapped a picture before going to close the bottle, clean the cup, and close the door behind her.

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_He was flying, his wings outstretched as he passed over snow and storm. Without warning, he slammed into a glassy wall. _

_It blocked his path, and closed him in. With a roar, he tried to break free, but it engulfed him in eternal darkness. _

_He was floating, arms by his sides as his legs stretched down under him. There was no sense of direction, only an everlasting black. He turned, looking for a way out. _

_He was staring at Aizen's dead body, stabbed into a wall. Beneath, Hinamori screamed in sadness and pain of loss as she attacked Kira. He moved to intercept her. _

_He was in the Central 46's chambers, staring at the dead. He wanted to call for Matsumoto, but there was no noise, only his dream. He turned to his vice-captain. _

_He was outside the chamber, discorporate, staring as he watched Aizen stab Hinamori, then leave her, dead. He tried to go to touch her, just once. _

_He was outside the chamber, once more in his body. Before him, Aizen stood, smiling. It wasn't like any smile Hitsugaya had seen; it was dark, sadistic. Gin stayed back as well. He drew his sword to activate bankai. _

'_Kyouka Suigetsu's ability is absolute hypnosis,' Aizen said, then proceeded to raise his blade as Hitsugaya prepared to attack with his bankai. _

'_Shatter, Kyouka Suigetsu.' _

_Pain, then darkness. _

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Hitsugaya woke up, gasping. It couldn't be true, could it? Aizen wouldn't kill Hinamori- she was like his daughter. And Kyouka Suigetsu did not possess the power of absolute hypnosis- Matsumoto had seen the zanpakuto's Shikai herself, along with the other vice-captains of the Gotei 13.

And yet, a traitorous part of his heart replied that if Kyouka Suigetsu could deceive people, it could have made Matsumoto and the other vice captains see something different. And at Aizen's level, Kyouka Suigetsu would reflect her user's true self. He shoved that part somewhere deep down.

Hyourinmaru simply offered his usual icy, numbing comfort as Hitsugaya went to the restroom and threw up. Whatever had been in that potion, he would have to get rid of. He returned to his bedroom to flush the contents down the toilet, then use it himself.

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Hinamori looked at the cell phone, then wrote an acceptance to Draco Malfoy's invitation.

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Hitsugaya watched as Molly Weasley exclaimed over the loss of the Dreamless Sleep as he hoped she would never use it again. He would refrain from mentioning the incident in his report, only include a warning the Dreamless Sleep would give Shinigami severe nightmares.

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Aizen was completing his plans as he read the data the Twelfth Division Captain had acquired from the Arrancar. Interestingly, there seemed to be levels of maturity, as this one had been more complete and could even use and mask its reiatsu, whereas those that had been found from Hueco Mundo retained most of their Hollow qualities.

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Matusmoto was off getting drunk with her friends as Yachiru did the paperwork and thought up an inventive method of revenge on them… so what if she was too young?

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Kurotsuchi and his daughter sighed as they wrote back a plea for Hitsugaya to send them some of the potion for the next time

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Hitsugaya looked at his cell phone, then watched as the Weasley woman came in with a new cup.

"Can I just borrow the bottle?" he asked, irritated. He was _not_ going to drink any of that stuff.

"No, since you might be tempted to throw it out like you did with the last one. It stained the toilet, and now it won't come off. And since you probably won't drink any if I didn't watch you, I will stay and watch you drink it all, young man. It's good for you."

Oh, crud. God had just raised human feces to his right hand.

Mrs. Weasley attempted to force him to drink it, then had Ron and Harry hold him down as she poured it down his throat. It was embarrassing, but this way he'd managed to get some of it spilled elsewhere and might even have a bit left in his gigai's mouth, if it didn't salivate over everything.

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_Once again, he was dreaming. Hyourinmaru carried him in his talons, flying from whatever influence was in his mind. Even the dragon was bound by some strange reiatsu. _

_He was ripped from his zanpakuto's claws and down a black vortex. _

_He was in the same unending darkness. Light rushed at him, reflected from ice left over from his mindscape. _

_He was facing a dark room where Hinamori was resting, recuperating from Aizen's attack. Matsumoto was behind him, and a glance of light reflected from Haineko. _

_He was in the mortal world, facing a nameless, powerful Arrancar. He lifted his limit, and the bright glacier-blue light of his reiatsu filtered around him in a powerful, blinding, aurora. _

_He was in the mortal world, regrowing his wings. Another Arrancar, an effeminate one, had Matsumoto, Yumichika, and Ikkaku in three of its eight tentacles, another that was cut off by the red blast of a zanpakuto's energy being fired. In the corner of his eye, he saw a man he had only heard about raise his blade and say something. Sunlight reflected off it in a dazzling burst of color, and suddenly Hyourinmaru was there. _

'_It's time to go back,' he said. 'Wake up._'

Hitsugaya sat up, his mouth dry. It was the middle of the night, and the fire had been built up again. Did they really believe he was ill? Looking down, he saw that he was clean, which meant that he had nothing to send to the Twelfth Division, and that he was wearing different clothes, which meant that someone had changed him. Of the two, it was definitely the second that disturbed him. That and the fact that he was wearing someone's old, faded, duckie pajamas.

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Hinamori smiled as she imagined dancing with someone. It had always been her fantasy to do so, but Hitsugaya was too short and didn't dance, and she was too shy to ask Aizen. Everyone else had to wait until her magical first time.

Draco knocked on her door before he came in.

"Hello," he said quietly. "I wanted to get you something, so…" He trailed off, clearly uncomfortable with the situation at hand.

"This is for you," he replied as he shoved something in her hands, then fled, embarrassed.

Hinamori looked at the package. It was wrapped in high-quality dark blue silk, and was stiff and hard to the touch. She whisked off the covering to find it was a carved wood-and-glass screen-type box, the gaps in the lacquer providing smooth glass to lend an image of smoothness to the work of art. Something dark lay inside it.

Moving to sit on the bed, she pulled open a small catch to reveal a midnight-blue silk formal kimono shot through with black and silver threads, a matching obi, and a few sapphire, jet, and silver hair ornaments.

One thought remained in her head; how much did it cost?

"Mother says you have to have something proper to wear to the ball," Draco said. He had returned, holding his own package. "She even got me something." He pulled his out to reveal dress robes of midnight-blue and black silk, also shot with silver, with a high-collared black cloak fastened with a silver brooch, white kid gloves, and a heavy, ancient bracelet that held a heavy dose of reiatsu in it.

"I'm impressed," Hinamori said. "I've never owned anything like this before."

"My mother found it in her attic somewhere," Draco admitted. "It was uncharmed, so she decided to give it to you."

"Tell her I said thanks."

"Tell her yourself. It's only polite." Was he _courting_ her?

"Okay."

"I mean, it's not as if she and father really support the Dark Lord but for the sake of appearance, you know. Even if he is a good Death Eater; we seek to advance our family name, that is all."

"It's not an easy spot to be in if the side you chose is the wrong one."

"Which is why I'm going to see if I can mysteriously disappear somewhere before I become a Death Eater."

"Run away with me?"

"Probably, if you'll take me. At worst I'll either commit suicide or become a Death Eater, right?"

"Right."

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Hitsugaya looked at his cell phone, preferring to throw it out the window. Soul Society had not-so-politely told him that he was required to capture the Arrancar, preferably with his ice prison. They had even authorized lifting the limit, if it was necessary.

A soft thud at the window caught his attention. A Hell Moth hovered just outside, and delivered news from Hinamori.

"I see," he muttered, turning away from the window. "I envy you."

"Envy who?" Harry had come up.

"Nobody."

"I know you said something."

"Was that supposed to be a threat? If you're going to threaten me, put sincerity and power behind it." Hitsugaya turned around. "What happened?"

"An incident with a boggart and Ron's mum," Harry replied worriedly. "I just hope none of us are going to die here."

"Try not to let them die."

"I won't."

"What's a boggart?"

"Huh?" Harry took a few minutes to process the abrupt change of topic. "Oh. They turn into your worst nightmare."

"How… troublesome."

"No, more like your worst fear, Hitsugaya."

Hitsugaya turned.

"What is my worst fear?" he asked.

"Go check out the boggart."

"I fear to know what I fear."

"Are you being rhetorical?!"

"Of course. What else?"

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Hinamori reflected on the gown. The ball was in little over a week, but she had more urgent matters at hand. It seemed as if Soul Society had taken her advice, but that didn't make the other half of their mission help.

Destroy Voldemort's 'Horcruxes.' She would need Hitsugaya's help on this. She looked at the waiting Hell Moth; it was time for one of them to cut and run. In the meantime, she would help hunt Hollows.

She got up to tell the Malfoys she was going out to a friend's house to stay for a little while.

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"So, what's up?" Harry asked.

"Nothing," Hitsugaya replied. He had pondered over which one of them would 'vanish.' Neither of their groups would appreciate it.

"And?" Harry prompted.

"Nothing, I told you," Hitsugaya replied, with more heat. On one hand, he was revealing Shinigami secrets to a secret organization.

"I don't believe you."

"I don't believe you too." On the other hand, Hinamori was teaching Kido to a target. The less their target learned, the better and easier it would be for them.

"Look," Harry began heatedly.

"I don't feel like talking. Please go away." Hinamori was also in contact with the Arrancar. If she left, they might never find it again.

"I won't."

"Yes you will." He nearly said 'I'm your superior' but bit it off at the last minute. If Hinamori vanished, they might send out the Arrancar out, and he and Hinamori would be able to defeat it and ship it to Kurotsuchi.

"Not until you tell me what's on your mind," Harry said stubbornly.

"Nothing's on my mind." It wasn't as if Kurotsuchi deserved it. If he stayed, he could get help from the Order, as their target was the main enemy. The old headmaster had known of the false Chains of Fate… the Horcruxes.

"You're thinking about it now," Harry persisted stubbornly.

"Do you ever think of what's good for you?" Hitsugaya purposely slid Hyourinmaru, which had been in his lap, out of its sheath. He might even be able to have them accept Hinamori.

"No."

"You might want to start now. There might just be trouble later, and if you die, a lot of people will be very sad indeed." Voldemort himself might come after Hinamori, and in the castle, where he could be in more easily if he stayed, it would be easier to see and detach the extraneous Chains of Fate and stable the 'original' one. Life to the dead… It was a chilling thought. Hitsugaya examined the blade carefully and sheathed it.

"Are you threatening me?"

"If I were, you'd be dead now. Learn to recognize them faster. Other than that, I'd be willing to fight you anytime. It's been pretty boring in this room." He laid the zanpakuto down on his bed.

"Help with the housework," Harry offered, almost desperately.

Hitsugaya shook his head. "I have allergic reactions to a lot of the stuff there."

"Oh."

"I recently found out my friend is going over to her friend, Gotetsu Hanamichi's, house."

"And?"

"I wish to be there as well."

"So?"

Hitsugaya could only do so much dissembling at a time. "Don't you have a brain?"

"I'm just having a conversation with you," Harry said, offended.

"I'm going to use the restroom."

"Don't forget to clean up after you leave," Harry snapped. "I wouldn't want to trip over something dangerous."

"All the truly dangerous things are out there," Hitsugaya said back coldly. "Sometimes you don't even have to search for them." As if on cue, a low Hollow's roar filtered through the window.

"If you'll excuse me, I must go," Hitsugaya reversed direction and picked up Hyourinmaru and a scarf. No sense in missing protection if the Hollow had poison.

"It's snowing outside!" Harry protested. "You'll freeze!"

"I won't, but you will. Stay here, gaki." With that, Hitsugaya unlatched part of the window and jumped out. "I'll be back in a minute or two!"

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Hinamori and Hanamichi looked at the hollow.

"It's awfully large," Hinamori said.

"Why haven't you taken care of it?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Hitsugaya-kun!" Hinamori called. Hitsugaya, out of newly formed habit, didn't bother correcting her.

"So why haven't you taken care of it?" Hitsugaya repeated.

"It has some sort of mask regeneration power!" Hanamichi called.

"We may have to risk Shikai," Hitsugaya commented, looking at the monster. "Wait… This is Grand Fisher! What is it doing here? I thought-"

"You thought wrong," Grand Fisher's voice said. "I'm still around."

"The Twelfth Division's reports stated that you were in Tokyo _thirty minutes ago_."

The Hollow merely laughed. "Are you sure? After all, I would hate for something to go wrong after they realize it's a different Hollow."

"A shapechanger?" Hitsugaya asked.

The Hollow simply charged. Hinamori ran back at it, hoping to catch it off guard. However, its claw sank into her shoulder, luckily missing anything vital. The lure changed shape, and soon Hinamori was confronted with a familiar figure.

"Aizen?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

Before the figure could answer, Hanamichi interceded.

"How dare you take Aizen-taicho's form?!" she shrieked. Hinamori remembered something about the powerful Hollow…

The two of them attacked in concert, and the Hollow was forced to retreat. Hitsugaya followed up with a swing at the head, but was deflected by the living fur. They continued to attack the Hollow, leaving no opening for it to fight back, only defend itself. However, the gate to Hueco Mundo was opened, and thin tentacles trailed out, dragging Grand Fisher back in. There was no doubt in any of their minds that the Hollow was being saved.

"Chikuso," Hanamichi cursed. "Ah, gomen, fukutaicho!"

"It's okay. Say, shouldn't you be getting back, Hitsugaya-kun? You're probably being missed right now."

"I know. However, I want you to stay with Hanamichi and not go back."

"So you'll be staying?" Hinamori asked. She had been hoping to dance with Draco.

"It would be more beneficial. Voldemort might even send out his Arrancar."

"Alright." He watched as they trudged off, then realized that well over a few minutes had passed. Cursing himself, he shunpo-ed back to the window where he found an irate Harry Potter waiting.

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Things will be in Hitsugaya's point of view as Hinamori's just going to be waiting for Voldemort and the Arrancar. She'll also be fighting Hollows in the mean time. We get her POV back as soon as she rejoins the plot, which should be in just a few more chapters.

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"You're lucky I didn't go for anyone!" Harry hissed.

"You sound like Hermione now," Hitsugaya told him, tired and hungry. His hunger could wait, but he definitely wanted rest. "Just let me sleep. I went for a sprint is all."

Harry looked at him and sighed. "Your fault. Don't blame me if you catch a cold." He walked off.

Things were finally getting interesting.

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Omake!

"Cute!" a group of people squealed.

"What?" he asked irritably. When he saw the picture, he froze before setting it on fire.

"WHO TOOK THIS?!?!?!" Hogwarts shook with his fury, and the temperature went from overbearingly hot to overbearingly cold.

The people pointed to Ron, who held another copy.

Hitsugaya glared. How had they gotten pictures of him sleeping? He always locked his door- oh, right. He jumped for the picture Ron dangled above his head and missed. And then the other way. Damn his lack of height!

"Nyah nyah!" the redhead teased just before Hitsugaya launched into a flying kick that would have made Yoruichi proud had she not been in hiding on the other side of the world. His foot connected with the other's bridge (of the nose), knocking him out.

Hitsugaya picked up the picture, took one look at it, and burned it.

"Luckily we made copies," Hermione muttered to the rest of the Hogwarts population.


	12. Chapter 10

2stupid: I just realized we forgot to mention what happened to the Hogwarts ghosts.

Tensa-chan: And the answer is nothing. The ghosts know about Hitsugaya, but he told them to be quiet about it. (he's a shinigami!)

2stupid: Eventually, they might get konso, but that's later.

Tensa-chan: About Hinamori leaving Voldemort- We don't give you much of a choice, do we?

2stupid: It just got too hard for us to write two POVs at the same time.

Tensa-chan: Leave me out of this!

2stupid: You're the one who suggested it!

Tensa-chan: There will also be two endings to the story- the first half and the second half.

2stupid: And a sequel, too.

Tensa-chan: But that's not for a while, so read.

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Chapter 10

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Hitsugaya looked at the window. Maybe having Hinamori leave wasn't a good thing- the Arrancar was still in hiding, and now they had no news of movement of their targets.

"Yo," Renji said, walking out from Soul Society. "I got bored, so I decided to come here!"

"Abarai-san, you're here at an extremely inconvenient time," Hitsugaya spat out through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I'm sorry, taicho," Renji said, not sounding or looking at all sorry. In fact, he seemed a bit gleeful. "I'll be going back now."

"And you'd better go fast. I have no privacy here." At that, Renji actually laughed. Hitsugaya could feel his veins popping and kicked the obstinate vice-captain back through his still-open gate. "Go practice for bankai or something. Come back and I'll stick you in an icicle."

"Hitsugaya-taicho's in a bad mood," Renji grumbled to the foot he landed against before realizing it was his captain's. _'Oh, crap.'_

Back to the main story.

Hitsugaya blinked. Why was his life becoming so strange and random? He really had to talk to Kuchiki-taicho about his subordinate, too.

"Hoy," a voice said. "Mum wants you to help get rid of some junk. She thinks we should be careful in case we run into anything like those strangling robes yesterday."

"Strangling robes?" Maybe this would be more interesting than your run-of-the-mill cleaning assignment after all.

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Hitsugaya fended the silvery… thing… off with an ancient dagger he had found. While it did not hold a candle to Hyourinmaru, at least if fended off the liquid-silver spiderlike thing.

"A little help here?" He snapped at the ring of people watching him.

"You seem to be dealing with it fine," Ron pointed out.

"So how do I get rid of this thing?"

"I dunno, mate. Figure it out."

Hitsugaya had had enough. "Bakudo #31: Shakkahou," he whispered under his breath, sending the spell in the dagger's blind spot. The thing promptly blew up.

"Why'd it do that?" Ron asked.

"Maybe it overexerted itself," Hitsugaya deadpanned.

"It's not alive, how can it overexert itself?"

Then again, it wasn't as if Hitsugaya were alive, either. He picked up the remains and threw them into the trash sack.

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"Send out the Arrancar to attack this Shiro-chan, then find that dratted Hinamori," Voldemort ordered.

"It shall be done," Wormtail answered, then left to relay the news.

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timeskip to Christmas eve.

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly, lalalalala, la la la la," the group (minus Hitsugaya) sang.

Said nonsinger got up.

"Where're you going?" a slightly drunk Charley Weasley asked, waving a bottle of wine around.

"Bathroom."

"Well, join us soon!" He cheerily began drinking from the almost-empty bottle again.

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Harry looked up blearily.

"Getting drunk must have been fun, baka," a short, not-so-happy person told him. "Get off the bed and out my room."

"Huh?" Harry looked up. The room spun, but due to the lack of familiar 'landmarks' he could tell this wasn't his room. That and the fact that it was cold enough to freeze in here.

"It's cold," he slurred. In response, Hitsugaya gripped his ankle just above his shoeline and began physically dragging him out of the room.

"Is everyone dealing with hangovers?" Hitsugaya asked crossly. His own experiences with Matsumoto indicated that nothing would get done until they cleaned up.

"Yeah."

Excellent. Hitsugaya deposited Harry in the hallway, then locked his room and slipped out of gigai.

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A Hollow's cries filtered through the air. Three Shinigami chased after it, not noticing the darker silhouette watching them. The Arrancar that Grindelwald had become waited. Soon, his prey would come to him, or he would seek his prey in its den.

And after he became strong enough, it was time to kill the little snake who thought it was a Dark Lord.

After all, the world was his.

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Hinamori sliced through a bull-like Hollow's mask just as Hanamichi went down with a claw to the back.

"Cover for us!" she called, turning to heal the other. Hitsugaya called his consent and headed in their direction. This country's bad weather didn't make it easier for any of them, and even Hitsugaya had to watch his footing.

"Got it!" he called, dodging a tentacle and cleaving another. "You might want to hurry up. I haven't seen a group of Hollows this big since that Quincy ran to Hueco Mundo and broke all his Hollow bait!"

"When did that happen?" Hanamichi asked, intrigued. "I never heard about it."

"It was right before the Quincy massacre, about fifty years before you became a Shinigami," Hinamori answered. "Five Shinigami died. It's not something we like to mention."

"Oh."

"Two from the Tenth, and three from the Seventh."

Hanamichi fell silent. Judging by the fact that there were nearly seventy Hollows surrounding them, that was a good idea. Chatter didn't do much for concentration.

"Why are there so many Hollows now?" a frustrated Hitsugaya screamed a few hours later. "They just keep coming up! Soten ni zase! Hyourinmaru!" He jumped into the air, hoping he wouldn't have to use bankai for this…

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"Hitsugaya?" Hermione called, pounding on his door. "Open up!"

"Go away!" came the muffled voice from within.

"Open up! There's an Order meeting, and we need you!"

It was just so troublesome, Chappy (the Soul Candy) sighed.

"I can't! Sorry!" Hermione continued to beat on his door for another twenty minutes before he opened up.

"Finally-" she stopped short. "What happened to you?"

"Being in a house with a lot of drunk people has its downsides," he said dryly, knowing most people didn't remember what they did when drunk. "Let me get Hyourinmaru." He disappeared back into the room.

"I'm sorry," Hermione squeaked. It was hard not to be mortified when the boy opposite you is sporting numerous gashes, scratches, and bruises, and is indirectly blaming you for it.

"Don't be. It wasn't you who did it." He reappeared, slinging his zanpakuto over his shoulder.

The reactions in the Order's meeting room were just as horrified. It didn't help that Hitsugaya walked in with a limp, courtesy of a Hollow's bomb that had gone off too close. Or that he had three parallel scratches running down his face and into his neckline, courtesy of a small, humanoid Hollow that had jumped inside his haori and wouldn't get out. Well, at least his major wounds had been healed, or he would have been in no position to get up. Unfortunately, he probably looked like he had gotten mugged. Or raped. Or both.

"What happened?" a mortified Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Being in a house with a lot of drunk people has its downsides," he repeated, this time in a monotone.

"You look like you've gotten mugged! Or raped! Or both!" Mrs. Weasley screeched.

"I'm fine!" he snapped. "Why are we here?"

"We're here because there was an incident two hours ago involving a sudden surge of dangerous magical creatures we call 'Hollows,' or dementors." The man went on, ignoring Hitsugaya's sudden air of tension and everyone else's shudders. "They were attacked, however, and forced to retreat. We should investigate the place at least, since people like that should be sympathetic to our cause." Dumbledore paused. "Also, there is the matter that they have been able to kill these creatures, something that should have been impossible."

The room erupted in noise as Hitsugaya leaned in to Dumbledore.

"What if they don't wish to be found out? What if they take affront and oppose us? What then?" he whispered to a suddenly startled old man.

"We must try," the headmaster answered.

Hitsugaya refrained from the urge to sigh. It was time to call Soul Society again; if this kept up, he would need new batteries.

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Dumbledore looked at the retreating shock of spiky white hair. He had a feeling that the boy knew more than he let on.

"Hitsugaya," he called. "I would appreciate greatly if you pleaded our case with your elders."

Harry, who was watching the exchange, narrowed his eyes. Something was going on.

Hitsugaya, however, didn't break stride, although internally he was screaming his head off and running around in circles.

"I will."

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"They want to _what_?" protested several captains.

"They want to establish contact with us- although they have no idea we're in Soul Society- and hopefully use us as their new allies," Hitsugaya repeated. For the nth to the nth time. Somehow, the meeting had gotten hung up over this little annoyance.

"They cannot!" protested Soi Fong. "It is impossible!"

"They have," Hitsugaya responded icily. "This Captain's meeting should not be taking place currently but for the fact that the wizards suspect something."

"You botched it," Kurotsuchi cackled evilly.

"I did not! It's not my fault that Hinamori and my mission now has three parts, one of which forces direct contact with the wizards!"

"On the contrary," Byakuya interjected, "It is very much your fault. You could have stayed hidden, but something tipped them off."

"Have you forgotten?" Hitsugaya snapped.

"Forgotten what?" Unohana asked softly.

"They can see us, they will remember us after we leave for Soul Society, and they _have methods of recognizing us_," he spat. "Would you please remember that magic is a type of focusing reiatsu to do spells? Well, I have worse news, anyways. It seems as though Voldemort has managed to gain control of those demi-Hollows that were formerly on that island. He may be using those as fodder to power up his Arrancar, if he's smart. Hinamori had to pull out of there before he realized something was wrong, so the target may not be aware of such practices, but _he is cunning_."

Kurotsuchi looked at him. "I would like to meet this man."

"I also have news concerning the renegade zanpakuto. Apparently its owner is the aforementioned target."

"And?"

"It seems to be a powerful fire type, but this event- with living beings becoming Shinigami!- is unprecedented, so I have no basis to judge, but I would say that he has at least one powerful parent and has achieved full Shikai. Not only that, but Hinamori says that his reiatsu is vice-captain, maybe captain level."

"It was included in your report, Hitsugaya-taicho," Zaraki commented. "If you want I would go and finish the job for you-" The meeting was cut short by a ghostly Hollow's call, followed by cruel, chuckling laughter. Panicking slightly, Hitsugaya looked back through the double doors he had summoned to attend this meeting. As if on cue, they opened, and he could see a shadowed figure in the old house in the mortal world.

"Would I be correct in guessing that that-" Yamamoto waved in the direction of the Hollow, "-would be the Arrancar we were looking for?"

Hitsugaya looked at it. It fit the picture Hinamori had sent him, so he replied with a 'yes.'

"Kurotsuchi-fukutaicho and Isane-fukutaicho will help you."

"Also, I would appreciate it if Hinamori-fukutaicho came back," Aizen said softly. "I admit that I miss her, and my division needs a morale-booster after that last attack by Grand Fisher."

"How many dead?" Hitsugaya asked, already at the threshold of the portal.

"Twelve. That brings the total to fifty-four."

"I'm sorry," Hitsugaya said. "It was wrong of me to not ask about Hinamori's division." After all, he had asked about his- every time he sent a report.

"What?" Aizen asked, apparently worried. "It's not your fault. I kept the news away from you two so she wouldn't get depressed and lose to a Hollow or anything."

"I think we should switch Hitsugaya with someone a bit more… diplomatic," Gin said. Hitsugaya bristled. It was just like the Third Division captain to break up a meeting just as things were ending.

"We will discuss this while Hitsugaya-taicho, Isane-fukutaicho, Kurotsuchi-fukutaicho, and Hinamori-fukutaicho capture this Arrancar."

That said, three figures raced through the shogi doors as the rest reformed their positions, the most disappointed Matsumoto and Gin. (although for different reasons, and the akward sentence structure means that out of the lot, Matsumoto and Gin were the most disappointed. Gomen.)

Hitsugaya knew that the Arrancar would have attracted the Order's attention, and he could feel their reiatsu coming closer. Obviously the other two had heard it as well, because they swiftly hid behind the bed as Hitsugaya pulled his zanpakuto out of the gate, which closed and collapsed in on itself.

Simultaneously, the door burst open.

"What?" Hitsugaya asked, having gotten into position that would indicate he had been practicing his kata.

"What are you doing?" an irritated Hermione asked. "We sensed a demi-Dementor here, and you're here just-just-" She flapped her arms to further iterate her point.

"Tell the Order that I will be taking care of it," Hitsugaya said. "My order was specially made to combat these demis."

"But-" Hermione wasn't the only one to stop, confused. Hitsugaya closed the door in their faces, then opened the window.

"Come on," he told the hidden pair in Japanese, slinging Hyourinmaru onto its proper place.

Without nary a sound, the three high-ranking Shinigami slipped out to hunt their hunter.

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Hermione looked at the other two in desperation.

"We have to help them!" she cried.

"We will," the calm voice of Albus Dumbledore said from behind them. "Several of the Order members will go help the impudent brat.

"Tell me," he continued. "Did he mention an order, group, organization, or etc.?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "He mentioned that his order was specifically created to combat these demi-Dementors."

"He had better be good, then," Dumbledore said gravely. "These 'demis', as we call them, are much stronger than Dementors and require strong spells to take down."

"So, they may have strong magic?" Hermione asked.

"Not only that, but we believe that Voldemort has bred a super-demi. That would truly be a force to be reckoned with."

The Order was silent.

"You're late!" a figure barked from the corner. "Get your asses out there now!"

"Who are you?" Hermione asked, a little shocked.

"Isn't that obvious?" A pale-haired boy wearing a black shihakushou slid out. For once, his sword was nowhere in sight; instead, both hands were jammed in his pocket as he strolled into view.

"Shiro?" she found herself asking.

"No," Dumbledore said. "Only a placeholder."

"Yes," the boy said. "I would suggest you get there soon, before something drastic happens."

"What?" Hermione asked. "What's going to be drastic? And who are you?"

"I'm nobody you need to know. For now, Hitsugaya Toshiro told me to tell you 'Hurry up.'"

"You know his name," Hermione persisted.

"Whatever."

"But you know his name! You're not supposed to!"

"Plenty of people know his name. You just haven't met them. And hopefully, you won't meet them for a while yet."

"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked, then drew in a breath. "You're not threatening me, are you?"

"Just the opposite," the boy told her. "Good day, and you really want to be going now." He slid off into the shadows, leaving Hermione and an audience behind.

"Who was he?" a confused Tonks said just before she knocked over a large umbrella stand and set off Mrs. Black.

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Hanamichi watched as the other four made their plans. Finally, Hitsugaya stood up to his not-quite-impressive 4'11".

"Hanamichi and Isane will go to fight off any other Hollows that may be here at this time. Including and especially the ones around the Arrancar," Hitsugaya called out loud enough for Hanamichi to hear. His next 'orders' were quieter.

"Hinamori and I will be attacking the Arrancar. Nemu will stay behind until we defeat it, then immobilize it until I can use my Ice Prison."

"Hai," Nemu said. What a lovely konpaku. Nothing like Chappy. (the crazy Rukia one) Hanamichi and Hinamori agreed, for reasons of their own.

"Wait," Isane said. "I'm from the Fourth Division! Everyone knows we can't fight."

"I'm sure they can," Hitsugaya replied dryly. "They simply choose not to hone their skills. That, and they prefer healing. I can sympathize."

"Hey!" the overly tall vice-captain complained. "Don't say that! Some of us are just suited for healing!"

"I know. I was in the Fourth Division once… before I got transferred to the Eleventh."

The entire group winced; the 'feud' between the Fourth and Eleventh Divisions was… incredible.

"I feel for you," Hanamichi said.

"Let's go," Hitsugaya said, irritated at the overly long (in his view) rendition of his early life.

Once again, a group of high-ranking Shinigami left. The two remaining looked at each other before going Hollow-hunting.

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"Welcome," the Arrancar sneered nastily. "I am Grindelwald Panzerstahl, Arrancar." (Numero tres, by the way)

"I am Kurotsuchi Nemu, Vice Captain of the Eleventh Division of the Gotei 13." Nemu bowed. Hitusgaya and Hinamori didn't bother with their names. After all, he wasn't their problem just yet.

The Arrancar Grindelwald fired off a Cero before having to dodge the Eleventh Division's Vice Captain's first sweeping kido attack.

"I am Hitugaya Toshiro, Captain of the Tenth Division."

"Hinamori Momo, Vice-Captain of the Fifth," Hinamori said. They attacked.

"You will die!" Grindelwald roared as he drew his zanpakuto. "_Dance, **Dia de la Muerta**_."

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Sorry about that whole thing on Hitsugaya being in the Fourth Division. It just strikes me as something his zanpakuto would be mistaken as. (I mean, his ice seems to be able to halt injuries.)

Also, I have recently found out that spirit force is reiryoku. Then what does that make reiatsu? I'm using reiatsu anyways, for consistency.

HIYA! My sister is having a tantrum right now… Isn't it interesting? Also, I have just found out that she plans on being a lesbian… O.O;; Seriously, it's disturbing.

So, have fun! Oh, and don't let anyone call you a hilljack!... Oh crud, she's tearing up my math book… WAR!!!! rips her sister's project


	13. Chapter 11

2stupid: Amen.

Tensa-chan: Huh?

2stupid: Our sister Oreo was just reciting bible verses and this seemed appropriate.

Tensa-chan: So now are you going to say 'O mi tuo fuo' whenever someone repeats Buddhist lines?

2stupid: oh, just shut it.

Tensa-chan: Why? I like annoying you.

2stupid: Aargh.

Tensa-chan: We don't own Bleach or Harry Potter. Also please expect a little hiatus (maybe a month or so) between this update and the next. We're trying to plan out the ending, which is a bit difficult since neither of us are particularly adept at doing such.

2stupid: EHHH?! You never told me that!

Tensa-chan: Also, please review to say if you would like a sequel or not. The sequel will take place during the Arrancar arc.

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Chapter 11

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Hitsugaya froze as Grindelwald released his zanpakuto.

"Soar in the frozen skies, Hyourinmaru!" he cried as he heard Hinamori shout "Burst, Tobiume!" in the background. The arrancar was soon forced to back off under Tobiume's powerful fireballs and Hyourinmaru's ice.

"Hadou #31: Shakkahou!" Nemu called. The kido blew off a centipede-like leg, one of many.

It was then that Hitsugaya got a good look at its rear end; after about twenty rows of centipede-body segments, the thing arched into a snakelike tail at least twice as long as its body. At the end was a club-like blob composed of what seemed to be a mass of… human skulls? As he watched, the Arrancar's tail seemed to separate in two, the skulls fading as they sank into an enlargening tumor-like growth. The hands became clawed, and along the back were multiple fanged mouths mounted on tentacles. Grindelwald grew bigger, his mask growing horns and a diamond-like exterior coating.

"Kuso," Hitsugaya cursed. Behind him, he could almost feel Nemu's mind working in circles.

"Bankai!" he screamed. It was time to end things before the wizards got here and asked questions. "Dai Guren Hyourinmaru!"

"Nemu! Request permission to lift our limits!" Hinamori called. The konpaku dialed in, ducking out of the fight.

"Permission granted!" Nemu called back a few minutes later. The Captains had given a first-class order to allow them to do whatever they wanted short of going rogue or killing Grindelwald.

"Ryuusenka!" Hitsugaya called, shattering the lower half of the Arrancar's body, only to watch it regenerate.

"Lift your limit, Shiro-chan!" Hinamori called. "The Arrancar's at least Captain level!"

"I know!" he screamed back. "I don't have enough time!" In response, Hinamori sent out a blast of fire from Tobiume, forcing the Arrancar back.

"I've lifted my limit: Now lift yours!" Hitsugaya touched the intricate kido on his chest, unraveling it to release most of his power. A few moments later, Grindelwald had set loose a Cero and a few Bara at Hinamori to keep her from using Tobiume on him. One came close to hitting the captain, who was having unexpected difficulties with his limit.

"It won't lift!" he screamed to his childhood friend as she barely dodged a Bara, leaving behind a sooty ash stain on one cheek.

"It should!" she screamed back.

"If it could, it would already have lifted!"

"Try aga-" she was cut off as Grindelwald knocked her aside with one of his club-tails.

"Do you want to know my zanpakuto's abilities?" he inquired. "I can absorb the reiatsu and reiryoku of my victims, to increase my own power. Like the girl here." Gesturing, the fleshy tumor began drawing Hinamori in, twining and growing around her prone body like an infestation taking over.

"Release her!" he screamed. "Bakudo 9: Geki!" Grindelwald was forced to stop absorbing Hinamori, but the situation was the same, and Isane's shunpo in to warn him the wizards were mere minutes away did not help.

"Ryuusenka!" This time, the ice froze off Grindelwald's balls (not those ones, you perverts out there), freeing Hinamori. However, the Arrancar chose that moment to flee to Hueco Mundo, and none of the Shinigami were of a mind to follow.

"We lost him," Hitsugaya said unhappily.

"At least I was able to get a good report on his capabilities," Nemu offered. "That should count, next time we meet him."

"Isane-fukutaicho!" he called, running over to Hinamori an thoroughly ignoring Nemu, "Heal Hinamori!"

In response, the tall Shinigami's hands began to glow as they reduced the severity of Hinamori's wounds.

"The wizards are almost here," a panting Hanamichi came up a few minutes into the procedure. "We have to get to our base."

"I'll stay behind to explain things," Hitsugaya offered. "Take Nemu, Hinamori, and Isane with you, please." Silently, he vowed that if Isane could heal Hinamori, he would call her 'Kotetsu-fukutaicho' the rest of her days and finally released his bankai.

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When the Order came up, the only thing they saw was an exhausted Hitsugaya standing in the snow, with signs of a battle all around.

"We're too late," he informed them. "If you want answers, come find me." He left to extract and destroy his gigai.

"So, do we follow him?" Kingsley Shacklebolt asked uncertainly.

"Yes," Dumbledore replied. The boy had something to do with Voldemort; he was sure of it. "But for the moment we return to Headquarters to see about that simulacrum."

The Order moved out.

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Hitsugaya finished reporting to the large screen with eleven captains in view.

"So they know of us, Hitsugaya-kun?" a demented scientist asked. "You have failed."

"It wasn't my fault," he ground out. "Those wizards can negate most of our advantages of being Shinigami. They even know about Hollows."

"Then it was your fault in allowing them access to more knowledge about Hollows," Soi Fong said.

"But-"

"No buts, Hitsugaya-taicho," Byakuya said. "You failed, and that's it. You can either attempt to rectify the situation or hand it over to another."

"I will rectify the situation."

"Then I will send along Ukitake-taicho to help you. Isane-fukutaicho will remain, but Kurotsuchi-fukutaicho and Hinamori-fukutaicho will return. In addition, Gotetsu-san (aka Hanamichi) will return to Soul Society as well for a new listing, as all Hollows seem to have abandoned this area. She and Kuchiki-san (Rukia) will go to Japan." Voila. The new mission was decided.

"What about Hinamori?" he asked.

"Hinamori will return to her duties here, of course," Aizen said, smiling cheerfully. "I must admit, I missed her quite a lot."

"Hai." He turned off the screen as Hinamori, Hanamichi, and Nemu walked off into a portal, which then revealed a Hell Moth and an ill captain.

Hitsugaya blinked. Why was Ukitake-san doing here if he was sick? Granted, he had been sick for over a millennia and probably had as much control over his illness as he possibly could, but he should be resting!

As if he had read Hitsugaya's mind, Ukitake Jyuushiro walked off to the nearest bedroom he could find and immediately collapsed on it.

"We're doomed," he muttered. In the background, Isane agreed, fiddling with her single long lock nervously.

Just then, there was knocking on the door. And since Hitsugaya knew no one should be knocking now, it was probably the Order of the Phoenix or the Death Eaters.

"I'll get it," he called.

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"This should be his house," Dumbledore announced. How he knew, Harry had no idea. It was as if he could sense where people were. Dumbledore walked calmly up to the front door and knocked.

"What?" Shiro asked irritably as he opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" Dumbledore asked, pinning the adolescent (is he?) in his gaze.

"Taking care of an ill colleague. I suggest you all leave before you catch something as well." Shiro didn't seem to be fazed, and Harry had the feeling that the whitey was either hiding something or that he didn't care. Given his choices, he opted for the former.

"Who is he?" a new, softer voice came from within, framed by series of heavy coughing. Harry could see the outline of a person with long hair and the same black and white uniform Shiro wore.

"Nothing, Ukitake-san. Please go back to bed before you get worse," Harry heard Shiro said, his voice softer than usual, as if he were worried.

"Hush, Hitsugaya-san. I'm fi-" Before the older person could finish, however, he began coughing once more. "You should let our guests in, you know."

Shiro muttered something under his breath that sounded a lot like 'queso,' and Harry wondered why he was talking about cheese in Spanish.

"Welcome in," Shiro said, turning back to them, sounding nothing of the sort. "The living room's on the first door to your right. Please do not open any others unless you wish to die a painful death." He turned his back to them and went to help the other, who turned out to be a man apparently in his late twenties with long, silky white hair, a slightly handsome, square-jawed face with dark eyes, a large, mobile mouth that seemed perpertually cheery, and an open countenance.

And what was scary was that Harry got those impressions from just a few glimpses at the other's face as he- Ukitake?- was being jokingly herded somewhere else, probably bed, by Shiro.

"I'll take care of him, Hitsugaya-taicho," a voice intervened, "and see what I can do." The voice was fairly unrevealing, and the tall, lanky stature (yes, she's lanky) and androgynous face gave no clue as to gender.

"Hai, Isane-fukutaicho," Hitsugaya said. Hermione, who had come, perked up at the Japanese.

"Captain?" she asked. "Vice-Captain? Are you some sort of military organization here?" No one bothered answering; the Order was trying to ascertain the situation and the Shinigami were trying to get Ukitake to bed. Unfortunately, he was heavy and he was on the verge of collapsing.

As the strange procession wound out of sight, the Order took a good look around a small hallway that intersected with another in a T at the base of a staircase and opened the first door to the right.

What met their eyes was not what they were expecting. Due to the Japanese, they had been expecting whitewashed walls and low furniture, a few tatami at least. Instead, they were met with daisy-yellow walls, a white ceiling, lacy curtains at a window that overlooked a small flower garden and yard, and a few slightly overstuffed couches placed around a long, low coffee table. However, on the coffee table was not coffee; instead, a white porcelain tea set on a lacquered wicker tray. The pot was steaming, but the four cups were overturned and empty.

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Hitsugaya went over to the living room, carrying a large thermos of tea and seven other cups.

"Sorry for the wait," he told everyone brusquely before pouring tea to everyone and sitting down on the single footstool. "Start asking." He daintily took a sip from his cup.

"Who are you?" Dumbledore asked.

"Already answered that. Next."

Hermione went next. "What type of military society are you from?"

Hitsugaya blinked, slightly taken aback, before answering. "Classified information. Next."

"Who were the other two?"

"Isane-san and Ukitake-san."

"Where are you from?"

"Classified information. Next."

"Why is everything classified information?"

"That too is classified information. Next."

"Is there anything that isn't?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell us?"

"Yes." There was an expectant silence.

"Can you tell us?" Dumbledore repeated.

"Yes." There was another expectant silence. Hitsugaya seriously hoped Isane was almost here with the prototype wizard Memory Chikan.

"Will you tell us?" Hermione prompted.

"No." He couldn't believe that Matsumoto's excuse to avoid paperwork actually worked.

"Why?"

"This is a Q&A session, not a show and tell."

"What?"

"This is a-"

"The question was rhetorical," Ron said, angry.

"Please, calm down, Mr. Weasley," Kingsley murmured. "This is an interview session, not a duel."

Just then, Isane came in and flashed the Memory Chikan at them. Hitsugaya was left with a disorientation that swiftly cleared. Looking around, he could see several wizard faces looking slack and unfocused.

"What was that, Shiro? And was that Isane or Ukitake?" Hermione asked dazedly.

"It didn't work," Shiro muttered under his breath in Japanese. "Damn."

"I am Isane Kotetsu," Isane said, hiding the Chikan and improvising. "Why are you all looking like that? I know the door sometimes reflects light, but I never knew it reflected that much light." She ducked into the room, mentally lamenting the fact that even Western doors were too low.

"Sorry, Ms. Kotetsu," Dumbledore said, twinkling his eyes again. "It was our fault. Tell me, is it possible for our two groups to perhaps work under a truce?"

"Ano…" Isane trailed off. Politics! That's what captains were for! "Ask Hitsugaya-taicho."

Hitsugaya, understandably, was worried about the meeting earlier with the rest of his fellow captains. "We'd have to ask Ukitake."

"Ano, Ukitake-taicho is out right now," Isane informed the assembly worriedly. "He needs rest, too."

"They you'll just have to wait," Hitsugaya replied. He switched back to Japanese. "How long until he recovers?"

"A few days, maybe more," Isane replied in the same language.

"I'm not sure they should stay, then."

"They shouldn't be here in the first place, taicho," Isane said softly, pouring her own cup of tea.

"It's not poisoned, drugged, or tainted in any way, you know," Hitsugaya suddenly told the rest of the group, none of which had drunk anything. "While you may do such things, we don't need to."

"I sense a story," Isane murmured. "A very long one."

"You have no idea," Hitsugaya muttered back. "And actually, it wasn't that long."

"Really?"

"Really," Hitsugaya replied, then switched to Japanese. "We need to distract them."

"Hai."

"How, though?"

"The military idea sounds nice. Maybe a hidden city somewhere."

"Accessible only by portal."

"Yes."

"You do know it can't be too fancy or we'll make a mistake somewhere along the line? That, and we do have to tell Ukitake-san about it, too."

"Right." Isane switched to English. "This is my son, Toshiro. I'm glad you found him, but he can be a bit delusional at times. That said, why are you all wearing dresses?"

Hitsugaya barely refrained from cursing under his breath.

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"Report," a voice said.

"I am sorry to say that I have lost them, Voldemort," a shadowy, kneeling figure said.

"That is not important. For now, seek upon finding my lost blade."

"Repentance."

"Do not speak the obvious. Crucio."

The thing that had been Grindelwald shrieked in pain. "L-lo siento," he hissed. "I'm sorry."

"Go." The Arrancar left. Soon, with his other master, this one would be dust. Slowly, he felt the number on his back: 03. Third of the espada.

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Dumbledore blinked. That lady was Toshiro's mother?

"I am sorry, then, for bothering you," Dumbledore said, rising and bowing. "It was my fault entirely."

"No, no," the kind-looking woman said. "It's our fault. We've been moving around so much, it's hard to have a good life, you know. It's what comes of being nomadic by nature."

"Oh, I see," Dumbledore said, slightly crestfallen. "Well, in any case, would you like for him to stay at my boarding school while you travel? It would be nice, not to mention that it's very exclusive and the fees will already be taken care of. In my school, he can get an extraordinary future."

Officially, Isane was backed into a corner.

"A-ano, ano," she stuttered, panicking slightly. "I would prefer to keep him here, close to me, you know. We were planning to move to Siberia next."

Wrong choice.

"You must keep him here, then!" a shocked Mrs. Weasley said. "There are no proper schools in Siberia, and it's dreadful weather there!"

"But the scenery is beautiful," Isane protested. It had been the site of her previous mortal-world mission. "It's gorgeous in the summer."

"But it will be approaching winter, and in the winter it will be freezing. Not to put it bluntly, that boy has a higher chance of surviving here," Moody said.

"But, we don't have to go to Siberia!" Isane protested. Mrs. Weasley was about to argue further when Hitsugaya interrupted.

"Why doesn't anyone just ask me what I want?" he asked, annoyed.

"So what _do_ you want, Hi- Toshiro?"

"Mrs. Hitsugaya-" Dumbledore began, only to be interrupted.

"My last name isn't Hitsugaya, it's Kotetsu. And I'm single."

Dumbledore blinked. "I'm sorry, Ms. Kotetsu. But you do know that your son-"

"Will choose as he likes."

"I wouldn't mind moving back to Japan," Hitsugaya told the entire crowd, more to Isane's benefit than for anyone else's- it wasn't his fault that the universal soul language was Japanese! "It was nicer there, anyway. And we just came from there, so there's a high chance that our house hasn't been sold yet."

Luckily Isane caught on, and Hitsugaya nearly prayed to the gods in thanks of not having an idiotic Eleventh Division member with him. "Probably not, although the bidding has probably gone up high. After all, it is near the hospital."

"Ms. Kotetsu, your child should learn some discipline."

"Kaa-san," Hitsugaya began, "I would like to go to Hogwarts." And that was it. As a vice captain, Isane couldn't countermand his order.

"Fine," she said. "But I want you to come back in one piece." Which held the unspoken statement that he had better not get in any life-threatening, attention-grabbing fights, especially with Hollows or that Arrancar.

"Just don't cut yourself again, and get Ukitake-san to the doctor's regularly, kaa-san," Hitsugaya said. Hidden statement: Preferably, don't get into many dangerous Hollow fights and take care of Ukitake.

"Hai. And I'm supposed to be your mother." Isane sighed, her six foot plus frame dwarfing his not quite five foot one. To put it short, he barely reached her waist. Or rather, her hips.

"Come on," she beckoned him. "Let's pack. And Mr. Dumbledore, I suggest you try the tea. It is really very good."

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Once they were out of earshot, Hitsugaya led the way to a soundproof, reiatsuproof room.

"Why did you do that?" Isane asked, lapsing back into Japanese. "Why?"

"They can help destroy both our targets," he replied in the same language.

"But we don't need them!"

"And if I were to vanish now, they would undoubtedly try to track me down, which would be far to troublesome. Besides, the third part of my mission is to hunt down and destroy whatever the wizards may have on us. To do that, I need to be able to mingle with them without their suspecting anything."

"Which won't happen if you're being hunted by these… wizards."

"I know that," Hitsugaya said. "And the fourth part of my mission is to track down the rogue zanpakuto Sangemaru's wielder. Who is definitely a wizard."

"We need Hinamori-san back," Isane said, frowning and chewing her lip. "I think my sister could help."

"To get rid of the Hollows? No, let her and Kotsubaki-san run the Thirteenth. We might want the Eleventh's third seat."

"Ikkaku? He'd bring-"

"I forgot about Ayasegawa-san," Hitsugaya growled.

"Marechiyo?"

"That pig? No."

"Tetsuzaemon?"

"The former Eleventh Division member? No."

"Kira?"

"Izuru-san? No."

"Why?"

"I distrust the Third Division."

"That's lame!"

"Just keep listing names!"

"Renji!"

"Abarai-san? Too much like Madarame-san."

"Shuuhei?"

"Hisagi-san? Ummm… fine then."

"You were hoping that we would choose Hinamori by default, weren't you?!"

"Ummm…"

"Don't worry. It's the puberty."

"Hey!"

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A few minutes later, the duo walked back in, this time with Hitsugaya carrying a not-quite-large backpack.

"That was quick," Ron said.

"Whatever," Hitsugaya said, going into punk mode.

"Ano, Hitsugaya-san, please behave politely. I don't want any reports on bad or peculiar behavior." Translation: Be incongruous and don't attract any more attention to yourself. Although Isane was only a vice captain, she carried the full weight of the Gotei 13 behind her.

"What are we waiting for?" Hitsugaya asked bluntly. "Let's go."

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Crazy author's note!

At first I thought that this story was getting out of hand but then I realized that all good stories end up this way… I mean, look at Bleach. They started out with Shinigami vs. Hollows and now they're on Espada and whatnot vs. Ichigo and whatnot. And Naruto. They started out with prankster trying to become Hokage and ended up with super-Jinchuuriki trying to save the ninja world as they know it… See what I mean? And then there was RuroKen, which went from nice swordsman beating bad guys up to not-so-nice swordsman beating his past up. And Yugioh, which went from kid finds puzzle, solves it, finds spirit and friends to spirit must save the world and find out his past. And on and on.

I'm doomed.

And honestly, I have no idea where the descriptions came from. Or the author's notes.

And, a cryptic preview of the next chapter:

I want to hold you close,

Skin pressed against me, tight.

Lie still, close your eyes, girl,

So lovely, it feels so right.

I want to hold you tight,

As I whisper in your ear,

"I'm going to f--- you tonight."

Don't take the song literally. This isn't rated 'M' for a reason.


	14. Chapter 12

2stupid: Aaaand, we're back!

Tensa-chan: And with our story struggling to go anywhere, we have decided to implement time skips where necessary.

2stupid: I'm sure you don't want to hear about a drudgery of classes.

Tensa-chan: But keep that to yourself. I'm one of the few who likes school.

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Chapter 12

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Life was dull. Classes went on, teaching useless stuff. Voldemort and the Arrancar remained elsewhere. And Hitsugaya was sure that whatever information the wizards might have on Shinigami was long gone. Having made a thorough search of the school library, Flourish and Blotts, and a couple of Ministry catalogues, he was certain that whatever was here was either in the forbidden street at that Diagon Alley or ashes.

Having decided that, Hitsugaya decided to make his life easier by looking for the books there. This explained the reason why he had shunpo-ed here and was currently browsing through a store named Borgin and Burkes again.

"Do you have anything on Shinigami?" he asked the manager.

"No, but funny you asked that. Mr. Malfoy came by a week ago with just that question."

"I see."

"I didn't have anything at the time, but now I do. It's a forbidden book, which I believe I own the only copy. It's written in some kind of ancient script or something."

"May I see it?"

"Of course." The book itself was thick, bound in heavy leather. Hitsugaya was slightly dismayed to see the symbol of the Gotei 13 on it. (It's that diamond thingie on the Captains' cloaks that has the division number in it) Opening the book, he noticed that the pages were written in what appeared to be Ancient Sumerian.

"The guy sold you a load of chicken scratch," he said. "I know what the old languages looked like, and this is none of them."

"How do you know it's old? It could be new."

"I dunno. How much for it?"

"Fifty galleons, no less."

"That's too much."

"I got it for fifty."

"What if I only have 49 Galleons?"

"I will sell it to the next who comes along. Perhaps Malfoy will want it."

"Fine." Hitsugaya handed over the required amount of money, which left him quite flat broke. "Take it. My life savings." He reached to take the book, but Borgin pulled it out of his reach.

"Maybe Malfoy would like to know who else has been searching for this information?" he asked.

"Maybe you want to die."

"Leave my store, now."

Hitsugaya left. Stopping at the door, he turned.

"Oh, by the way, Bakudo #1: Sai." The man's hands snapped together behind his back and the book dropped to the floor. A quick shunpo brought him to the book, and another left him well on the way back.

"He should have listened," Hitsugaya muttered to himself and his zanpakuto.

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Now that he was a student again, Hitsugaya was stuck with homework. And due to the essay increase, he was having a hard time in his life, which seemed to require twenty five hours. Between homework, classes, the Order, and completing his mission, Hitsugaya was feeling a little harried, as evidenced by his deep bags.

"After I finish this I will go and sleep for two days straight," he promised himself. "Or maybe even a week." Let Yachiru and Matsumoto do the paperwork for him. His Vice Captain in particular needed some discipline.

"You'd miss so much class," Hermione broke into his thoughts.

"I meant after the school year. I honestly don't plan on coming back after this."

"Why not? You get to learn magic here!"

"I have to help my organization."

"Oh." Hermione seemed crestfallen. "But you're so good at this! We can erase any trace of your existence and have you come here, if you like."

"Thanks, but no. My life is dedicated to my organization."

"Aren't you a little young for that?"

"No."

"When does your organization start recruiting, anyway, for you to have such a mindset?"

"There is no age limit. Please, Granger-san, I am trying to work here. As a fellow pedantic, I am pretty sure you understand." Hermione blinked and left. What she had just learned would make life easier for the Order. Hitsugaya spoke Japanese fluently, maybe even as a primary language.

Hitsugaya realized his mistake and began cursing fluently- mentally, of course. Hyourinmaru raised its head and chuckled.

'It was your fault, you know.'

'Of course. Now let me try to think of something to rectify this situation.'

'I wonder what Dumbledore will think when he realizes what the term 'Shinigami' means, not to mention all the folk lore behind it.'

'With luck, all I have to do is convince him it's just a military organizations dedicated to defeating magical creatures and exorcisms. It's not unlikely; after all, see what happened with the wizards themselves.'

Hyourinmaru laughed. 'Good luck with that.'

Hitsugaya scowled, swiveling around in his dark-corner armchair to face a wall. But fate wasn't done with him just yet.

"Scowling and glaring at walls is bad for the health, you know, mate," Ron came over. "It's bloody freezing over here!" That part was true; the high-backed chair Hitsugaya was in concealed a rather large window. That, combined with a touch of reiatsu and the fact that it was snowing outside, ensured that it was at least fifty degrees cooler than the rest of the common room. But why the cold didn't spread, he had no idea. It was probably their damn magic around here. "Wanna play chess with me?"

"Chess? No, thanks. I don't play very well, nor do I particularly care for the game." Ron looked offended, and Hitsugaya felt obliged to explain himself. "It's a bit hard to enjoy a game when you're so outclassed you lose within the first fifteen moves every time."

"Ouch." Ron winced. "That's gotta hurt."

"Especially when my opponent is my childhood friend."

"I get it, I get it!" Ron said dramatically, waving his arms for extra effect.

"Stop waving your arms, Weasley. It looks like we're having an argument."

"That's because we bloody are!" Ron cried.

"Wrong," Hitsugaya said. "You are attempting to argue with me. I am attempting to stare at a stone wall in peace."

Ron too stomped away.

Hitsugaya looked at the wall, bored to death. He would rather be fighting Hollows, but there were none of them around. Even training was out of the question; while he had been gone, a stranger had broken in and attacked a few students, and now the school was on hyper-alert. He should be getting ready for his insane Defense class, then.

At least he didn't bother to do the homework, and the teachers didn't bother to complain about him. It was probably the Headmaster who had pulled those strings, especially when he would be gone the following year.

'Time's wasting,' Hyourinmaru called. 'We're set to go, so go!'

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Kotetsu Isane was usually not a worried person. However, as Soul Society had sent some nameless person to deal with the Hollows, she was trying to care for a certain Ukitake-taicho. He wasn't doing very well, to be honest, and her medicines didn't really help. Whatever disease he had was taking its toll on his body. Soon, it would take a miracle to cure him.

Turning to retrieve her latest medication, she wondered why Kurotsuchi didn't just go after the Arrancar itself. Certainly it would be more helpful. Even diagnosing Ukitake's condition would be helpful- but nooo, the Twelfth Division did not do biology.

It made her want to do something drastic. Like beat up a few Eleventh Division rookies the next time they teased her on her height.

Or take matters into her own hands. However, Soul Society wouldn't appreciate her going to the renegade Urahara, and even if she did she had no idea whether it would help. Still, those rookies sounded pretty nice. Some of them barely knew their zanpakuto's names.

We will proceed to leave Isane to her increasingly insane ramblings.

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((The author looked at her fic.

"I need your help, readers. I have hit a writer's block. Temporarily. I may pick up a new thread before I finish this chapter though. However, it's taking forever to write. I want a few tips, please. Ja ne!))

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Umbridge gave him a mere glance to ensure he was attentive.

"Why haven't you done my essay?" she asked sweetly.

"I have had the unfortunate experience of a long meeting with the Headmaster." It was time to play all three ends against the middle.

"But that does not excuse your tardiness or your lack of homework, Jyunrinan. In fact, I think it calls for a detention."

"Does anyone care what you think?" Hitsugaya asked in Japanese under his breath.

"Speak up, boy!" Umbridge snapped.

"Hai, hai, Umbride-baka. Anata wa mesuinu domo. Kutabare." ((AN: He just said 'Yes, yes, idiot Umbridge. You are a major/big bitch. Fuck you.))

"What?" the teacher seemed thrown off by lack of a language she understood.

"Nothing. When is detention?"

"Nine o'clock tonight, in my office."

Nine o'clock rolled around, and Hitsugaya walked into her office. It seemed to be the stereotypic bitch-girl room with an ostentatious twist. Everything was pink, frilly, and had magical kitten motifs.

"You're here, Jyunrinan," Umbridge said. "I want five hundred lines of 'I will do my homework.' You may start." She indicated a black quill that fairly stank of magic to Hitsugaya's senses. It lay across the top of a few sheets of parchment. There was no ink.

Picking up the pen, he felt magical barbs attempt to sink into his 'flesh.' The gigai deflected the barbs off, however, as he began scratching across the page. Contrary to his belief, no ink spilled out. The page remained dry. Rather than state the obvious, though, he simply reached over and took a jar from the teacher.

"Don't use that, dearie," Umbridge said in an overly cheery voice. "This is supposed to teach a lesson."

"What, writing in invisible ink?" This time, Hitsugaya couldn't keep the scorn out of his voice. "I'm sure that will help the student remember the lines, although whether or not he decides to act on it remains uncertain."

"What?" Umbridge said. "It's not supposed to do that. It's supposed to etch those words in your hand. I've used it before and I know it works." She took the quill from him and tested it. A scribble made of blood imprinted itself on the sheet and her hand.

"Well, that makes a difference," Hitsugaya said dryly as the teacher frantically reached for something to stop her bleeding. "It's surprising how bloodthirsty the human race gets."

"Well, muggles do that," Umbridge agreed. "Luckily, I'm rather pureblooded."

"I wasn't referring to them," Hitsugaya corrected. "I was talking about the entire human race. You, the headmaster, the muggle next door. All of you."

"And you're not?" Umbridge snapped. "Don't tell my you're a filthy halfbreed."

"Nothing of the sort. I simply don't count myself the same as you humans around here. I prefer to do other things with my time."

"I think that-" Umbridge was stopped as a low roar filtered through the air. "Oh my god, it one of those! I thought we eradicated them!"

"They come back whether you want them to or not. They grow spontaneously," Hitsugaya offered, most of his mind on the approaching Hollow. It was a weak one.

"What would you know?" Umbridge cried. "You're just a student! Go back to your dorm immediately!" With that, she pushed him out the door and locked herself in.

"Bakemono," Hitsugaya grumbled absently while shunpo-ing to the source of the reiatsu. There, he could see several wizards flinging spells at the Hollow in an attempt to drive it off. Not a one had tried to attack its mask yet. "How dumb are they?"

"Bakudo #9: Sai!" he murmured, freezing the Hollow in place for several wizards to slam Reducto curses into the beast, severing limbs and tearing into the shoulder.

The Hollow regenerated as it looked at the nuisances around it. Hitsugaya was fairly sure the Hollow had sensed him in this forest and would come for him shortly. He was emitting more than enough reiatsu for that. Almost on cue, the white, masked head turned his way, then ran off from the wizards in his direction. Hyourinmaru hummed at the chance to do its job, and within seconds the Hollow was disintegrating.

The wizards saw it. Luckily, by the time the Hollow had finished disintegrating, Hitsugaya was well on his way in. The only problem was that the entire castle seemed to be in lockdown. Well, if there were blame, he would have it fall most heavily on Umbridge. He shunpo-ed back into the forest and dematerialized Hyourinmaru.

It was a short time to wait until the official people came from the Ministry that Umbridge hailed from. Apparently, it was more like the Central 46 than the Gotei 13. From there on, it was child's play to wander in with a confused, lost expression and decry Umbridge. It was lucky that he had found a way to stretch his gigai's shape, as he didn't think that a beak-nosed, brown-haired, particularly large student would be found at the school.

He was wrong, and had the satisfaction of seeing Crabbe being dragged off for questioning a week later. Umbridge was due back the next Monday.

The day after she arrived, Umbridge signed up a huge workload.

"It's almost Easter vacation," Harry moaned. "And we've so much homework it's like, it's like,"

"Like taking a part time paperwork job?" Hitsugaya asked, flipping through his newest essay.

"Paperwork job?" Ron wailed. "I have two essays to go, and I'm short three feet on this one!"

"Bad luck to you. Just restate some of what you've written already in a different form." Hitsugaya went back to his essay, decided it was done, and began his division paperwork. Two casualties from Fish Face… who named that Hollow? It sounded a lot like Marechiyo's work; honestly, it was a wonder the man made it to Vice Captain in the first place.

Snorting, Hitsugaya went back to his paperwork.

"What's so funny?" Ron demanded. "It's bloody well hard writing these essays."

"Not really," Hitsugaya muttered. Passing the Academy in one year had required an ability to write semiperfect, if not perfect, essays. "It's all a matter of practice. That and how well you can make something stretch. For instance, I could stretch the phrase 'Camphor repels moths' into a three page essay."

"I get it!" Ron said. "Hey, can I see your work?" Hitsugaya pointedly stored the sheets away in his bag. "Fine! Hermione?"

"No."

"Harry?"

"Who do you think I copied off?"

"Fred?" he asked Fred, who had just wandered over.

"Sorry, but she hasn't given us the essay, bro. Tough luck."

"Shiro?"

"Only if you stop whining, don't copy word for word, and answer a question of my choice correctly."

"Alright!" Ron grabbed the nearest parchment and began scanning. "So your question?"

"I've always been interested in tales of Death Gods, also called Soul Reapers or Shinigami. Do you know anything about them?" Hitsugaya colored his voice mildly with curiosity.

"Not really, except these two my Mum told me. Funny you should ask, too. Mum said they were true and that they must be passed on."

"What are they?" There was more curiosity flavoring the voice, now.

"Well, one's a story, and the other's a poem. The story's supposed to be about way back early, back when we still had these monsters around. They formed from evil ghosts, you see, and they eat peoples' souls. That's where the dementors came from.

"They were exterminated by this organization of people in black, who called themselves 'Shinigami'. Only certain people could see these exterminators." Ron was reciting quickly now. "We turned out to be wizards. Anyways, these exterminators also sent the souls of the dead to Heaven or Hell, and we wizards made a treaty, which has long since disappeared." Hitsugaya remembered the treaty he had encountered in the records. Kuchiki-taichou would have a good idea on the event; he was old enough to have been there.

"Anyways," Ron continued, "the treaty was supposed to be signed by the founders of this school, but no one has found a trace of it. ('That's because it's in Soul Society,' thought Hitsugaya.) So eventually the wizards became wizards, and decided to take Europe as ours. The exterminators have vanished from here, and only a few Ministries around the world, such as in Japan, have a department that contacts them. Even then, it's rarely ever happened, and no one really thinks about them anymore."

Hermione spoke up. "I found this book in the restricted section that had a passage relating to the disappearance of the Shinigami. It was an article in a book of dark fairy tales. I have it here, in fact." She pulled out a sheet of yellowed parchment.

"'Feeling affronted by a Shinigami, two wizards attempted to retaliate upon another. It is through this that we have learned that Shinigami are not human. Indeed, they are above human, for above all, _they are immortal._ They are impervious to weapons and spells excepting from their own kind, are extremely long lived but may die at the hands of Hollows, (although the worst that has been seen are severe injuries) and have strength beyond men.' That's all this article says," Hermione said.

"Ron, what about the song?" Harry asked. "I want to know about these Shinigami too."

"It's very vague. It goes 'Sayonara, my sweet/ the Soul Reaper's coming/ the Shinigami's coming/ to bury your soul/ to grant you rebirth/ strength beyond your dreams/ power to succeed/ immortality/ Sayonara, my sweet.' That's just the first verse, but it's sung at funerals. We did it at Uncle Algy's funeral."

"Keep going," Hitsugaya urged. The situation didn't look good; that song told about even konso.

"Alright. 'Sayonara, my sweet/ the Shinigami's here/ he'll purify your soul/ and take you home/ the White City,/ and the four alleys,/ Sayonara, my sweet.' 'Sayonara my sweet,/ he is here, she is here/ it is time,/ to find paradise./ Sayonara, my sweet.' 'Sayonara, my sweet,/ the black butterfly appears/ the symbol of death/ the symbol of your rebirth./ Sayonara my sweet.' Then there's this last verse, but no one uses it anymore. It goes 'Dear Death God,/ please show me the door/ that leads to your home/ that leads to your home./ May your sword gleam bright/ may your days be light/ You of the Thirteen Squads./ Bringer of light' It's supposed to be a way of showing who's a Shinigami, but no one knows what it's supposed to mean. I mean, the exterminators carried swords and lived in a secret place, but 'Thirteen Squads' and 'Bringer of light' have almost no connotation whatsoever. Besides, I thought they wore black?"

Hitsugaya had an idea, however. He just wasn't going to say it.

"Do you know where the song originated?"

"Somewhere in Japan, I think. Why?"

"I want to know where to hunt next. Want to help?"

Hermione looked at them. "Sure," she answered for them. "It could be useful. Since it's Saturday and Easter's coming up. I could use a break, you know?" Harry and Ron looked at Hermione like she was insane.

"That settles it, then," Hitsugaya said. "Off to the library!"

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Looking in the library at Hogwarts was vastly different from looking in the libraries at Soul Society, especially the Tenth and Eleventh Division and Academy ones. For one, the theme here was Western Medieval Society, which indicated Gothic use of flying buttresses, arches, and an unusual lack of stained glass windows. The room was dim and lit only by torches. Books were set in massive dark bookcases forming a maze where one could get lost. A few wooden tables stood around, holding yet more books.

The libraries in Soul Society were large, vast, but much lighter, with white and a pale bamboo being dominant. (That's a bit of a pale golden tan color. If you want to know, the toothpicks at Asian restaurants are this color.) Even the numerous books (garnered from both deceased writers and living) were in order. There was even a library of records in each noble house and the First Division.

All in all, this library did not compare. Its contents, however, were interesting. And not very informative; Hitsugaya was pretty sure the price of ground beetle wings in Singapore in 1978 had nothing to do with Shinigami. And for reasons unknown, the other three did not want to ask the librarian.

Hence the reason they were out to read every book in the library. So far, their search had turned up no yields.

"Found one!" Hermione finally called quietly, putting it on an out-of-the-way table situated in a hidden alcove behind a bookcase bordered and hidden by others… why this was even here was a mystery to the quartet.

"Let's find a couple first, then look them up," Hitsugaya suggested. "That way it'll be easier to corroborate the information and see if any of it is false."

"Alright," Ron agreed, even though he had no idea what the first year was iterating.

"True," Hermione said. "It would be easier." Thus, they split up to find more books. And this time Hitsugaya wondered who would be so insane as to create a spell to make one burp slugs.

In the end, they found a few more books, none of which came into detail; more or less, the only phrase mentioning Shinigami was 'Of these most dreaded beings we will not speak of.'

"That was a total waste of time," Hitsugaya said, noting absentmindedly what the books were so he could destroy them. Telling a person nothing and giving them big, juicy bait was as bad as including information. "We found out nothing."

"Except that no one really wants to talk about them," Hermione surmised. Hitsugaya shot him a glance. "What? It's the truth."

"You're too perceptive for your own good," Hitsugaya muttered in Japanese.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Nothing."

"There ought to have been something," Ron complained. "I mean, the library's bloody huge!"

"What next? Diagon Alley?" Hermione wondered.

"Maybe that dark place, Knockturn," Hitsugaya said. "It seems to hold a lot of secrets."

"NO! That's a Dark place! Everyone knows that!" Ron exclaimed vehemently.

"Exactly. They probably have forbidden books there that there are nowhere else."

"But-!" Hermione was cut off.

"Think of what could be found there. We might find a history on Shinigami. Or one of their weapons or something! Think! It's the chance of a lifetime!" Hitsugaya hoped his zeal could affect the others; he truly wanted to explore the place. It was the child side of him.

"It's really dangerous, though," Harry said. "Especially with Voldemort back."

"And we can take care of ourselves," Hitsugaya said calmly. "I doubt that the spells can affect you if they don't hit you in the first place."

"But dodging them is a problem," Harry said.

"What about invisibility spells? Or good old blending in?"

Hermione suddenly looked stern. "If you dare go into that alley, I will personally report you to the headmaster!" she cried shrilly. "It's too dangerous!"

Hitsugaya decided to continue his surreptitious visits as it would not be expedient (though it would be satisfying) to simply blow the whole place up with a good kido.

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Sorry I ended there, but the chapter was getting a bit long. (It's still only eleven pages, but it's better than my other fic. Four pages of short dialogue for that one I really don't want to write anything longer or else my word document won't upload. Yeah, it's that troublesome.)

If you're curious about the zanpakuto, they're in zanpakuto gigai!

Well, as I was writing this, my mom came up and told me that somehow my first period class marked me absent, which is a truancy. The problem is, I was at class. So now I'm pissed and about to voodoo my PE teacher. Please excuse me while I make him a doll.

(Neji in a random battle) OHHH MY GOOD LORD!!PLEASE DONT HURT ME!! OH GOD! OH GOD! IM TOO YOUNG TO DIE!!! PLEASE GOD NO NO NO!!!!! Author: Kage no Julia


	15. Chapter 13

2stupid: Yo. Wazz up.

Tensa-chan: What's with the accent?

2stupid: Wat ya doin', foo'?

Tensa-chan: I'm not your homey!

2stupid: -hic- zass' alrigh' 'ome'o', I' yer par'ner.

Tensa-chan: What happened now? Speak up.

2stupid: Brain'd wit a boo'. Stupi' t'ing fell o' me.

Tensa-chan: YOU GOT OURSELF A CONCUSSION?!?! (BLEEEP) YOU!

2stupid: Ooo's?

Tensa-chan: Now I have to write the chapter, usuratonkachi. It's giving me a headache already.

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Chapter 13

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As if Hermione's words cursed his luck, it brought him trouble in the last week before Easter. For one, he had been taking Defense class. After reading Slinkhard's anecdote on what to do in case one encountered a Shinigami- a footnote, really- Hitsugaya couldn't help it.

He laughed.

He laughed like he hadn't laughed since he had died. But honestly, who would say that Shinigami didn't exist? After all, he himself was one.

Umbridge had not been pleased, but had accepted his apology out of hand without assigning punishment. It seemed as if the last one had really affected her.

But then, it wasn't his fault. Just a gigai malfunction. Damn, Kurotsuchi was losing his touch. Not that he had much, when compared to Urahara.

It was still annoying. And the way these mortals were able to multiply just about everything incredibly fast, he didn't have as much time as he used to.

To put it, Hitsugaya was pissed. The fact that the author was on her thirteenth chapter didn't make it any easier. To top it off, nothing of the Dark Lord or the Arrancar had been spotted.

So when Harry and co. went off to Hogsmeade, Hitsugaya took the chance to return to Soul Society for a few hours.

There, he regained some of his inner peace by screaming his head off at Kurotsuchi before retiring to eat some watermelons. Some Shinigami heard this racket and wondered if the kid had finally snapped… which made them the targets of their Captain's watermelon-shooting spree.

So after a while, Hitsugaya finally decided to end it all sooner.

One must feel sorry for the poor Dark Lord.

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"It's Easter vacation!" Ron cried a week later. "Woohoo! Die, Umbridge!" Even with the nastiness from the Ministry and the Malfoy gang, Hitsugaya had remained relatively unaffected; he stayed away from all wizarding news (it was all so untrustworthy) and concentrated on working up a method by which to complete his mission. Most of his plans required the use of a certain Harry Potter, who he was sure wouldn't help.

That left coercion or trickery. Hitsugaya sucked at trickery, but he had nothing to blackmail or threaten with, except going over to the Dark side. And in this Light school, that was a bad idea. It didn't help that the one plan he could think of that didn't involve Potter was one that involved him telling people he was Shinigami and having rumors reach the Dark Lord. Soul Society would exile him for that breach of conduct.

It helped when, later, Potter and his friends were convicted of creating an illegal defense association, resulting in the expulsion of the headmaster. Life would be easier without his mind-peeping skills; the new acting headmistress would be easy to influence.

With that in mind, Hitsugaya set off with a box of chocolate under his cloak, laced with a rather dangerous substance (banned from use inside Soul Society) designed to make one trust the person whose reiatsu tainted the substance. (AN: MY OWN INVENTION -- DOES NOT EXIST!)

Umbridge had been delighted when he congratulated her on her new status as Headmistress, more so when he had given her the chocolates. Even as he left, she had already popped on in her mouth, exclaiming over the delicate flavor.

At that, Hitsugaya couldn't quite hide the smirk on his face, although he did take care to wipe it off; he did not want to look like Gin- that (bleep). That, and he usually didn't feel this way. However, that Umbridge woman was even more annoying than the sight of a happily drunk Matsumoto while he was deluged with paperwork, so he supposed it was alright.

It wasn't, therefore, surprising to see the normally cool and stolid- although frighteningly intelligent- captain smirking like he was Gin himself.

'I want to see the results of your plan,' Hyourinmaru murmured in the back of his mind.

'I do too,' Hitsugaya replied, a hint of glee in his voice. 'It should be interesting.'

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Harry wasn't sure how Hitsugaya managed to get not only on the Inquisitorial Squad, but also into Malfoy's little clique.

"Honestly," Ron complained. "He's turning into a little Slytherin."

"I am not," a voice behind them said. "I merely have charisma."

"Are you spying for the Order?" Hermione asked.

"No."

"Then why are you there?"

"I am spying for myself. I need to know more about your Dark Lord."

"Why?"

"I also know that Harry's having dreams involving their Ministry of Magic-" Harry shot him a dark look "-and wish to know what it is that he's dreaming about, especially if the Dark Lord wants him to go there."

Hermione looked slightly mortified.

"Think about it," Hitsugaya continued. "If he has found out about your friend's connection to him, he might be able to reciprocate the effects or even generate new ones."

Harry remained silent. He simply didn't want to believe Voldemort could influence him like that.

"It doesn't take a mind link to try to influence someone," Ron said. "Besides, you have no proof."

"Proof is not always needed," Hitsugaya retorted mysteriously. He wondered briefly whether he should just make up some prophecy… but then, the only ones he was good at were the ones concerning weather. Ice, snow, and rain, to be precise.

"Ack! Stop acting so, so, old!" Ron cried in exasperation.

"Then admit that you're wrong."

"NO!" Ron proceeded to throw a tantrum there and then. Hitsugaya repressed the urge to stick his tongue out and instead proceeded to explain to Harry and Hermione how he had gotten Ron to throw the tantrum in the first place. Both of them looked skeptical.

Ron finished, caught the end of their conversation, and promptly tackled Hitsugaya in irritation. "Bloody bastard!" he growled. Hitsugaya, who was used to such things from Matsumoto, simply kicked him off.

"Troublesome," he muttered.

"Ron! Are you okay?" Harry rushed over to his friend, who quickly assented.

"Next time," Hitsugaya said, fed up with being civil, "I will break something." He stormed out of the room to Harry and Hermione's shocked faces.

'That was inopportune,' Hyourinmaru growled. 'I suspect we will have trouble after this.'

'They are just so troublesome,' Hitsugaya growled back. 'I don't know why, but something about them irritates me.'

'I think it's about time we started tracking down that Voldemort. Making a deal with Sangemaru to lead us to him in return for returning him to his owner might help.'

'True,' Hitsugaya acceded. 'But Soul Society wouldn't dare allow that.'

'And since when did Soul Society care about the dealings of zanpakuto? Especially if we weaken it.'

'I'd still have to contact the other Captains, who might not be so inclined. This mission needs to be over soon.'

'We do have to finish it by the end of the school year, since we can't risk coming back again.'

'I know. That means we have only two months, however.'

'Let's use Sangemaru. I don't think we have a choice.'

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Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other.

"I think we should go apologize," Hermione said. "We weren't being very nice, you know."

"Nice?" Ron bellowed. "_Nice?_ That bloody bastard wasn't nice, that's what!"

"There's something strange about him," Harry added. "I'm not sure what, but that time he left, it seemed as if the temperature dropped. Drastically." The three of them looked outside. Where it had once been sunny, now a heavy rain beat upon the castle. Icy pellets of water and strong, cold gusts blew out of windows that had been open for the first warm breezes of the year. Several people yelped and ran over to struggle to close the windows.

"I say we go see him," Hermione said.

"Seconded," Ron agreed. The three of them walked to the dorms and looked at the bed where the curtains were drawn.

"Shiro?" Hermione asked briskly. "We need to talk to you."

Silence.

"Shiro?"

"What if he's not in there?" Ron asked, looking at the tightly-closed curtains.

"Where else would he be?" Harry asked.

"Er, our dorms?" Ron answered blankly. "Putting up a joke?"

"No, Ron," Hermione said. "He's too mature for that."

"I'm not sure," Harry said. "I think he was acting a bit immature, there."

"Oh, just shut it," Hermione said, pulling open the curtains. She was unprepared to meet the dazzle, as the inside was lit up with a brilliant blue glow reminiscent of one shining through the heart of a glacier (aka. the place the ice is so dense it's blue). But that brilliant, pale blue-silver was being combated by a sword whose energies were a dark reddish-orange in the shape of flames. Figuratively speaking.

Suddenly, the light died down and Hitsugaya looked at them. For a second, there was silence and eye contact, then Harry felt paralyzed. A reddish energy burned around him silently, keeping him from moving. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ron and Hermione were in the same jam. However, it was Hitsugaya who captured his interest. He wore a strange black and white uniform and straw sandals, and had a sheath on his back. Harry watched as he quickly slammed the two swords into their respective sheaths and jump out the window. A few tense moments ticked by before they were freed again.

"What was that?" Hermione said as she ran over to the window in an attempt to search for a body. "There's no body or anything. That means he made it." There was a mixture of relief, worry, and anger in her voice."

"He's not human," Ron said. "Otherwise he'd be splattered all over the place."

"We have to tell Dumbledore," Harry said. "Come on."

The three of them ran off.

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Hitsugaya was halfway off campus when he realized he had left the suitcase of incriminating Shinigami objects behind. Not feeling like losing a lot of it, he shunpo-ed back, stuffed everything of his into his trunk, and shunpo-ed out. However, by that time, Dumbledore had gotten the message from Harry and co. and had activated a few wards barring people from entering or leaving.

He was effectively stuck. And since he didn't want wizards on him once he left school grounds – their method of shunpo was incredibly overused and they would be attracted to the noise of the barrier breaking – he would have to stay. Didn't that headmaster say that the forest was out of bounds? It would be in there, then. He sped off.

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There is a reason why the Forbidden Forest was forbidden by the four founders. The main reason is the Hollow residing in there.

This is an unusual Hollow. It has been trapped in a spot at the center of the forest for quite a while. The Shinigami left it there to finish off later, but never got the chance to before the school was built.

Hitsugaya looked at the giant mask towering over him, the dragonish body moving to attack.

'That is one large Hollow,' Hyourinmaru deadpanned. 'Let's purify it.' Hitsugaya moved to attack, but realized that the Hollow wasn't able to attack him and that he wasn't able to attack the Hollow. There was a large barrier; it felt like the work of several Captains, and was rather like a stronger version of the Menos Grandes' Negation. Hitsugaya made a report of it with his cell phone and left.

He ran into the centaurs.

"This is so not my day," he muttered as he watched the mutant horse-thingies aim arrows at him. Once they realized they couldn't affect him, they stopped and told Hitsugaya he was trespassing.

"Sorry," he called back. "I just need a place to crash for the night until the warding comes down."

"Mars is bright tonight," one centaur warned him.

"I will take precautions!" Hitsugaya sped off to find somewhere to wait.

"That was odd," the centaur said. "Come on, my daughter's waiting."

Oookay. Back to the main story.

Hitsugaya was sitting in a large tree when he saw the headmaster take a phoenix out the window. As he left, he was unimpeded by the barrier, so Hitsugaya assumed it was down. The sheer amount of reiatsu in the air made it hard to tell.

"Thank you for the hospitality," he called back to the centaurs as he shunpo-ed off.

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Isane was surprised to see him back, to say the least. She watched as he opened a small gate with his zanpakuto and left his things in his office with a warning to Matsumoto and Yachiru (who was doing his paperwork) not to open it.

"At least we can track our second target with Sangemaru," he said gloomily. "And if we're lucky, the first one will be there too. Of all stupid, harebrained missions, it had to be this one. Why are we bothering now if we haven't bothered for the past millennium?"

"Things have never been so out of hand," Isane murmured. "Ukitake-taichou's better, so we can join in the effort. I'll go to that Diagon Alley place and search for reference material. Abarai-san's patrolling, and Ukitake can go with you. You resemble each other, anyways."

"It's just the hair," Hitsugaya informed her icily. Isane simply laughed.

"So, what did I miss?" Ukitake asked.

"Nothing, you and I get to look for our first two targets. We're using his zanpakuto, Sangemaru, as a tracking device," Hitsugaya reported. "It will work, although once our target has his zanpakuto back, he will attempt to use it. I have used a binding spell to weaken it, and hopefully the Arrancar won't be around. If it is, however, one of us must attack it while the other takes on Voldemort."

"I will take on the Arrancar, and you get Voldemort," Ukitake said.

"Hai."

"In the meantime, let's go! Sangemaru's probably waiting for us now."

It was true: the zanpakuto was impatient, but led them towards what appeared to be a rundown manor.

"It's here," Hitsugaya said firmly. Sangemaru cut off its mental link and began humming and glowing, almost dragging the Shinigami with it in its eagerness to rejoin its master.

"Let's go." The two Shinigami headed off towards their destination at a low shunpo speed.

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Okay! Short chapter, but I gave you a drabble thingie instead.

Note: Dumbledore was around because Harry's DA wasn't gone yet. But it was found out this chapter. And the story's ending; maybe three or four chapters left. And a lot of chocolate.

Yes, I'm a chocolate freak. GIVE ME MY CHOCOLATE, EVIL SISTER! YOU HAVE KIDNAPPED IT! In addition, I was watching episodes of Rozen Maiden Traumend and Trinity Blood.

Oh, just out of curiosity, who wants a Rozen Maiden/Harry Potter crossover Year Six with Harry as Suigintou's Medium?

OMAKE!!!

Soi Fong looked at the Arrancar- Ulquiorra?

"WHO THE F DOES THESE THINGS?!?!" she roared. "Sting your enemies to death, Suzumebachi!"

The effeminate zanpakuto appeared. Ulquiorra attempted to dodge, but was speared through the shoulder. A large butterfly popped up. Soi Fong ran around trying to catch him again, but was out of luck.

The keepers of the round chose that time to pull out… a Hollow! Unfortunately for him, Ulquiorra jumped up to dodge Soi Fong and was promptly eaten by the Hollow. Yoruichi then sliced its mask, destroying it.

"Game over!" she cried in triumph. The stands were in awe.

Before anything could happen, a portal opened and the two fell in.

"That was odd," Soi Fong said.

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Oookay, that was still short. Eight pages… I usually write around thirteen… I will finish this story in a few chapters, however. Soon.

REVIEW OR I WILL SET SET ON YOU!!! AND HE HAS A NASTY BITE! (By Set I mean Egyptian god of something.)


	16. Chapter 14

2stupid: Yo, what's up?

Tensa-chan: Almost done with this, almost done with this. After, though, we might not write in the Bleach category for a while.

2stupid: But we love this fic too much to forget about it.

Tensa-chan: So read up!

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Chapter 14

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Hitsugaya looked at the Wizarding headline: 'Dumbledore Seen at School Before Flying Out Window', it proclaimed. How stupid of them; the news was at least a week late. He and Isane were combing the last of Diagon Alley, having bought and destroyed any book with any reference to Shinigami, not that there were many.

"We're done here," Isane reported. "We even checked the antique shops; there are no more references left."

"Let's leave, then," Hitsugaya said. "There's another village we need to check, but it's close to that school."

"Hogsmeade?" Isane asked, checking a map. Just then, their cell phones beeped.

"We have permission to use Sangemaru," Hitsugaya said, surprised. "I thought they would have refused."

"It may be because we need more to finish soon than anything else, taichou," Isane said.

"Let's go then," the two of them performed a shunpo and left.

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Their search at Hogsmeade was short and uneventful; nothing was found. Afterward, they retreated to the Shrieking Shack to prepare to follow Sangemaru.

"Do you think this will work?" Isane asked worriedly, waving her hands in the air to demonstrate her point."

"It will," Hitsugaya said, attaching an instrument Kurotsuchi had informed him would allow the zanpakuto to materialize but remain incorporeal to the blade.

On cue, the lava dragon materialized, barely taller than Hitsugaya and only around four times longer. 'Let's go,' it hissed, and set off at a swift speed.

The dragon led them to an apparently abandoned house; Hitsugaya recognized its distinctive energy signature as the one Hinamori had been in for the first few months of their mission.

"It's that one," he said confidently. "It was noticed early in the report, and Hinamori was on the job until she returned."

"Let's go, then," Isane said. The two of them shunpo-ed into the house.

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"My lord, two people are here to speak to you regarding Projects 11 and 14," Wormtail murmured.

"Ah, so they're here," Voldemort murmured as the door opened and a pair of black-wearing figures were ushered in, the younger one wearing a white overcoat. (AN: There's a Japanese name for it, but I just had finals and my brain's fried, not to mention I'm sick, so I'm not going to try to think it up just now.)

"Hello, Voldemort-sama," Hitsugaya said, presenting Sangemaru. "We are merely here to return an item of yours."

"My sword," Voldemort recognized, his eyes narrowing.

"It is yours. Until then, sayonara." Hitsugaya shunpo-ed out of the room, Isane following a few milliseconds later.

"That was it?" she cried out in shock. "You tracked our second target just to return his _zanpakuto_?"

"No," Hitsugaya replied. "I placed a tracking device and have realized that the first target, the Arrancar, is indeed there. Not only that, but he has the skills to attempt to break into a person's mind. This was just a scouting mission. We will wait until he makes a move, then finish the job."

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They waited about a month before they received a memorandum stating that the Arrancar had been sent to the 'Ministry of Magic' accompanied by a troop of uniformed 'Death Eaters'.

"Who makes up weird names like these, anyways?" Hitsugaya asked as he tossed the note into the fire. It was only a copy, anyways.

"Idiots," Isane replied dryly. "Come on, let's go or we'll miss something!"

"I thought I was supposed to be in charge of this mission," Hitsugaya muttered to Ukitake under his breath. (Ha! I bet you forgot about Ukitake!)

"Well, let Isane lead for a change," Ukitake whispered back. "Besides, she usually works so hard, so it's nice of her to actually blow off some steam now."

"Hai," Hitsugaya murmured. There was silence for a while as the three high-ranking Shinigami gathered their zanpakuto and set off to search for the 'Ministry of Magic.'

Which led to their current situation.

"I'm sure it's here!" Isane wailed, staring at the broken telephone booth. "I'm sure I read the map correctly!"

"Well, you and Ukitake-taichou go and check with the Twelfth Division while I stay here, in case something strange happens and the Ministry really is here."

After they left, Hitsugaya didn't have long to wait until he saw several Hogwarts students appear on thestrals.

"Long time no see," he said, melting out of the shadows as the group slid off their thestrals.

"Shiro," Harry hissed.

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Hitsugaya looked at the adolescent wizard, rolling his eyes.

"Honestly, could you be more stupid? I'm here to help, not hinder, and you'll need my help, anyways. I know more than you do."

"Really?" a girl said dreamily. She wore carrot-shaped dangling earrings. "I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood."

"Nice to meet you," Hitsugaya said. "In any case, I have no idea how to get into the Ministry."

"We go into the phone booth and dial 6-2-4-4-2 and state our mission," Harry said.

In response, Hitsugaya slid into the booth, locked the door behind him with a spell, and dialed the numbers.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and reason to be here."

"Shiro, Misuse of Magical Creatures emergency," he answered. The booth slid down as if on an elevator, and Hitsugaya realized that this was indeed the entrance to the Ministry, as the Ministry was underground. As the lift slid to a stop, he stepped out, locking that door behind him with another spell, and sent a Hell Moth to Isane and Ukitake. Then he waited until the others came down before disappearing in a shunpo to the source of the Arrancar's reiatsu, the largest of the group.

Sliding into the shadows of a room labeled with hundreds of reiatsu-filled and hexed spheres, he watched as the group of Death Eaters set up an elaborate trap. The Arrancar seemed to sense something, and Hitsugaya firmly pressed yet another damper on his power.

"Bloody beast is getting out of control again," one Death Eater murmured to another as they, and half the entire group, dragged it to another place. Hitsugaya opted to stay with the original group.

'How troublesome,' Hyourinmaru murmured. Hitsugaya silently agreed.

Again, he didn't have long to wait before Harry and co. ran in and saw the spheres.

After a short argument, the Death Eaters were about to attack when Hitsugaya cast the Hakufuku and they all dropped unconscious.

"You know, you really shouldn't meddle in things outside your depth," Hitsugaya said disapprovingly to the schoolchildren. He really hated annoying brats.

"What did you do that for?" Harry demanded. "Why didn't you wait for us? And what did you do to those Death Eaters?"

"Nothing permanent," Hitsugaya said calmly. "They are simply unconscious. Think of it as a selective poison gas attack." Before he could say more, a lonely cry filtered through the air as Hitsugaya sensed the Arrancar.

"It's here."

"What's here?" Harry asked in confusion. The cry had unnerved him and the others.

"Something that could kill you and devour your soul before you knew what was happening. Oh, and don't touch anything on the shelves, even if they look like they're related to you. They're all spelled to do nasty stuff to the people they touch. That, and there were a group of masked… Death Eaters… here earlier. They've set up a trap in the next room and in the one with the veil."

"But we were just there," Harry said, confused.

"Well, maybe they were waiting for you to do something. Thus, try not to do it. I would suggest curling up in the fetal position and staying out of the way, but that could be troublesome. Not to mention the fact that we could never find you."

Harry looked at the shorty in consternation. "But-"

"Listen, _Harry_," Hitsugaya emphasized the 'Harry', "You have no idea, and you really don't want to have an idea. Therefore, stay out of my business."

Harry looked like he would love to argue, but was cut off when soft thuds were heard.

"Listen. Do you hear that?" Hitsugaya asked coldly. At Harry's nod, he went on. "That's the sound of your companions and members of your 'Order' falling to the creature that made the cry. Your Dark Lord has made mistakes; I am simply here to rectify them."

Harry and company looked slightly more confused.

"Wait," a bushy haired girl said. "Are you a Shinigami?"

Hitsugaya looked her full in the face and said, "No." He then gave them one last warning and shunpo-ed out.

After he had left, Hermione looked slightly deflated. "Then what is he?" she asked worriedly. "I could have sworn he was a Shinigami."

"He might have been lying, you know," Luna said dreamily.

"We need to find that sphere," Harry said.

"But Shi-" Hermione began.

"I don't care what he says. We've fought dangerous before, and we can fight it again. That sphere may be the only thing we can use to get Sirius back."

"But-"

"If it's the weapon, we can always smash it," Ron said. "I believe Harry. Besides, didn't Hitsugaya leave to get rid of the monster? That leaves only Death Eaters, which we can face. Come on, let's go."

"Ron, that's what I'm worried about," Hermione said. "He may have been working with the Death Eaters and told us to do so."

"Then all the more we should get that sphere before the Death Eaters do," Harry said grimly. "Come on."

They followed him through the door to the second room, where Neville called Harry over.

"This is it!" Harry exulted fiercely, quietly. He reached out and picked it up. Nothing happened.

"So much for his 'spells'," Ron said, disgusted, when they heard soft clapping behind them.

"Oh, well done," Malfoy's voice filtered from behind them. "You really should have followed that Shinigami's advice, though, you know."

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Hitsugaya reached the room with the veil before realizing that it too was a trap. The door behind him swung shut and, with an ominous clicking sound, locked itself. There would be no help from that quarter.

Which was fine. He didn't need any help, and he could blast down the door if need be. Meanwhile, his attention was absorbed on the veil as he ignored the Death Eater coming this way. The veil was a gate to Hueco Mundo… He could feel the amount of reiatsu the portal was emitting; any Quincy would have been very happy to be in that flow.

Hitsugaya, however, was a Shinigami, and his instincts said 'EVIL! BAD!'

"How foolish wizards have become," he muttered. "To have even opened the route to Hueco Mundo."

"Yes," the hoarse, deep voice of the Arrancar agreed. "Your soul feels delicious… so much power."

Hitsugaya stuck his tongue out before shunpo-ing out. To his surprise, the Arrancar performed a similar technique and blocked him.

"Kuso," he muttered, maneuvering behind the thing.

"Cero!" Hitsugaya barely managed to dodge, and was only spared because he was able to get out of his gigai in time. Behind him, he heard gasps as they saw him emerge. Luckily, there was no need to destroy the gigai- not after the damage it had sustained from the Cero.

"You're strong," Hitsugaya admitted. "But you have more power. Are you holding back just because I look young?!"

"Heh, shorty," the Arrancar began, but suddenly stopped.

Hitsu-chan's reiatsu had suddenly gotten _very_ large and _very_ scary.

"Souten ni zase, Hyourinmaru!"

The Arrancar was forced to dodge as Hitsugaya activated his shikai. The Death Eaters ran as they were unintentionally bombarded with ice fragments.

"Well, since you've shown your power, I will show mine. Esta el tiempo ahora, Dia de la Muerte!"

The large, grotesque Arrancar dragged its blade out of its sheath, becoming larger and yet more grotesque. Its body color changed to that of the usual Hollow's dirty white; its legs became claw-tipped tentacles; its body became armored and scorpion-like, the tail arched over its head; the shoulders became immense and pointy-armor plated, two rows of tentacles sprouted from its back, several pairs of scythe-arms sprouted while the originals gained foot-long claws, and the head's hollow mask elongated into something macabre, resembling an avian skull but tapering to points in the back. Deep, dark red markings only enhanced the vision.

"This is my true form, Shinigami! Die!"

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Harry was panting as he and the others tried a new door, only to find it locked.

"Alohamora!" Hermione cried, supporting a gibberish-sprouting Ron and a semi-conscious Luna. Ginny supported Neville, who appeared to have broken his nose and ankle. The prophecy had been smashed by now.

The scene they entered to was incredibly horrifying; Shiro, who was wearing a strange black robe-like uniform under a white cloak, was engaged in a fight with something that could be only called a monster; there was a hole in its chest where its heart should be, it wore an avian mask, and it emitted a foul aura.

"Cero!" it roared, aiming a blast at its opponent. The missile missed and hit the opposing wall, where it wrought damage upon the twenty-odd Death Eaters huddling in fear.

"Whoa," Ginny said in awe.

They looked at the scorpion-like being, which ignored them. The heads on its tail began emitting a screeching noise as their owner began twirling its tail in a swift, circular motion. Harry watched in awe as spears of a strange, white substance emerged from the gaping mouths and threw them at the Shinigami.

"Las Lanzas!"

"Hyourinmaru!" Hitsugaya cried as he spotted the things. The ice dragon flew down and blocked the projectiles, spitting out an icy mist that enveloped the tail in ice.

"Ohoho, you're strong, Shinigami," the Arrancar said as it dragged its tail forward- and promptly severed the appendage. "But you have no idea what it is like to be an Arrancar." Dropping the thing, it charged forward.

"On the contrary, I think I do," Hitsugaya countered. "It must be something like my Captain's Exam, only on a daily basis."

"I wouldn't know. Espada del Diablo!" It grew a sword-like appendage and began slicing at Hitsugaya.

"Bakudo 31: Shakkahou!" Hitsugaya threw the ball of reddish fire at the Arrancar, managing to slow it down so he was in position above and slightly behind its head.

The crescent-shaped blade-on-a-chain (what is it called?) slipped down, almost leisurely, to twine about the Arrancar's head and neck. With a soft _crackle_, ice grew to cover the appendages. Hitsugaya flipped Hyourinmaru so its blade pointed downward and slammed the zanpakuto through its head, which shattered.

The rest of the body, instead of dissolving like a Hollow's or falling into black light like a soul ungergoing Konso, instead appeared to melt into pure, unadulterated reiatsu that would have made a Quincy very, very happy.

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Dumbledore and the rest of the Order ran into the Death Room in fear of what they would meet. What they saw, however, was far worse than they could have imagined.

A Shinigami was there.

"Harry!" Sirius cried out frantically, running to his godson. "Get away from that thing!"

"I'm not a thing," Hitsugaya said crossly. "Stop being so prejudiced." Before he could say anything else, however, he was forced to dodge the jets of red light coming his way from both Order members and Death Eaters. Frowning and wishing he could send a Hell Moth to Isane to tell her to come here, Hitsugaya performed a large-scale (albeit low-level) binding spell to seal their movement.

"Let us go, you demon!" one woman shrieked. Stupid prejudiced mortals.

"Say that to the thing you created," he called back.

"Where are you going?" an old man with fairly high spiritual pressure asked.

"To finish what I started." Alright, that served it. Dealing with mortals was _very_ different from dealing with souls, especially in behavior. Mortals were so immature!

With that, Hitsugaya walked out of the room, feeling several people on both sides break through his fairly weak bindings.

What he was unprepared for, however, was for the woman who had called him a demon to push a man into the veiled archway – which was nothing more than a portal to Hueco Mundo.

Hitsugaya immediately ran back, wondering why he was going after some strange wizard who had tried to attack him barely 15 seconds ago.

He went through.

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Going through the portal to Hueco Mundo was a nauseous ride. When he was transported out – several hundred feet over the ground, no less! – he managed to slow down his ride by gathering reiatsu under his feet.

"So where is that idiot?" he muttered. This desolate, black-and-white landscape was nothing he wanted to see again.

A scream alerted him to the other's presence.

Running over to the wizard, Hitsugaya pulled Hyourinmaru out and sank it into the first Hollow's mask. The second attempted to attack him but also lost its mask and was purified.

"W-what are t-they?" Sirius whispered.

"You don't particularly want to know. You will make no mention of this incident and instead blame it on a malfunction."

"But-"

"I can leave you behind," Hitsugaya offered. "All I need is your discretion."

Sirius gulped. This boy was scary. On the other hand…

"Alright."

"Then let's move it," Hitsugaya called. "I have to open the gate back."

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Harry and several others (cough everyone else cough) stared at the veil.

_How?_ was running through their minds at the moment.

Sirius was dead. And now this boy had chosen to commit suicide by following him.

"Oh, my, god," whispered someone. Harry didn't bother to check the identity of the person.

Suddenly, Bellatrix ran out. "I must tell the Dark Lord," she muttered. Harry ran after her, aiming hexes, jinxes, curses, and anything else he could think of.

They stopped in the atrium, where Bella suddenly turned around.

"You have no idea of the true power of the Dark Lord," she hissed. "He can rend people's very souls. What makes you think you can stand up to that?"

"Of course he can't," an unfamiliar voice said. "That's why we're here."

Harry turned around. It was the woman Hitsugaya had claimed as his mother – something almost certainly false – and another man, who was wearing the same strange white cloak as Hitsugaya.

"You!"

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Hitsugaya opened the gate. Since the other was unable to do anything useful, Hitsugaya had simply resorted to telling him to sit. And now, he would have to carry the idiot as he shunpo-ed through the interdimensional space. The sea of souls.

Grabbing the man without warning, he set off through the turbulent place as swiftly as he could. All this work while wearing a limiter was beginning to tax his reiatsu reserves.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

Fortunately, the wizard was too afraid of the insanely high speeds to do anything more than freeze in fear and scream. It was thus that the two of them opened the gate fifteen feet above the dais, to the surprise of the other people.

"Welcome back," he said sarcastically as he dumped the other man onto the floor and shunpo-ed out. He could feel a powerful reiatsu-most likely the second target's-coming closer very swiftly.

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"Isane-fukutaichou! Ukitake-taichou!" Hitsugaya shouted as he shunpo-ed into the atrium to see Voldemort matching blades with the pair. The Dark Lord took the chance to run off. "There's an unauthorized _permanent_ gate into Hueco Mundo down in a room with the veil. In the basement, second door on the right. You need to dismantle it!"

Withthat, he was off, chasing the newly-named Dark Lord as Ukitake and Isane ran downstairs to destroy the portal. No one noticed the various Ministry personnel assembled.

"Oh, my, God," Fudge whispered.

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Sirius watched as a pair of black-clad figures ran/leaped/jumped into the room and approached the veil, talking in a foreign language.

Suddenly, the white-haired one unsheathed his blade and began chanting in that same foreign language. The blonde woman – Hitsugaya's mother? – watched in concern. For what, though?

The wizards all watched, amazed, as a bright, white flamelike light began dancing around the man, his sword, and the veil. The energy began to coalesce around the veil, hiding it from view. The man knelt and plunged his blade into the ground in front of the front of the archway.

"Seal!" Ukitake screamed. He could feel his illness acting up again, but the gate was now permanently sealed. Standing up again, he wrenched the Sogyo no Katawari from the ground and resheathed it.

"It's done," he murmured quietly to Isane as so not to trigger a coughing fit.

"Finally," she breathed a sigh of relief. "You need to rest now. I can hear it."

"Alright," he muttered. "After all, Hitsugaya-taichou can take care of himself."

Isane laughed quietly as they shunpo-ed out, leaving behind the ruins of the archway behind them.

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Oooh, Harry got told off.

Oh, and here is more on the Arrancar's zanpakuto:

Name: Dia de la Muerte

Meaning: Day of the Dead

Activation phrase-thingie: Esta el tiempo ahora.

Meaning: It is time now. (Can also be 'Now is the time' or 'the time is now'.)

Abilities: Cero (duh), Las Lanzas (The Spears), Espada del Diablo (Sword of the Devil)

Ack, short chapter, too. But I don't know. Next chapter up sooner. And with it, the end of the omake!


	17. Chapter 15

2stupid: Last chapter.

Tensa-chan: Then will be various omake.

2stupid: For all those people out there, the omake will consist of random snippets of parts (or chapters) I wanted to put in but would mess up the telling of the story.

Tensa-chan: And I said to put them in anyways.

2stupid: But this is so much better, no?

Tensa-chan: Whatever. I still preferred it the old way.

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Chapter 15

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Hitsugaya got back to the school in time to see the Dark Lord's minions collapse the barriers over the school.

"So troublesome," he grumbled, running in after the students who were (by now) eating breakfast. More time had passed than he thought.

Terrified screams came floating through the air from the Great Hall, so Hitsugaya was fairly sure that the Dark Lord was in there.

Stepping onto the ledge from where the owls entered the Hall in the morning, Hitsugaya observed the damage. Several Death Eaters were swiftly attacking the students, and in the midst of it all, in the direct center, was the Dark Lord, target number two.

"Bakudo #9: Geki!" he called, and the binding spell stopped everyone in their tracks. Only a few even tried to fight back, but none of them succeeded, which spoke volumes for their incompetence.

"Please stop attempting to fight each other," he said softly. "It's pathetic."

"Shinigami," the Dark Lord noted. "I am Lord Voldemort. You can not stop me."

"Riight," Hitsugaya said. "I'm afraid you're the reason why I'm here."

"And that reason would be?"

"You have broken Soul Society law by attaching more than one Chain of Fate to your soul in an attempt to gain immortality. However, due to the fact that you had no idea that this was so very illegal and due to the fact that you have many other charges against you, including the willful act of creating an Arrancar and defiance of Shinigami authority, the only action I am permitted to take against you now is to destroy those extra Chains of Fate," Hitsugaya rattled off. "After your death, you will be held accountable for the rest of your crimes, most likely by being sent to Hell after konso."

"Then I will deal with you the same way I dealt with those other imbeciles your Shinigami government has attempted to send after me!" Voldemort roared. "No one messes with Lord Voldemort."

"Your reiatsu level is almost Vice-Captain level," Hitsugaya noted. "No wonder you were able to get rid of the others so easily; none of them were seated. It's a pity someone like you are this way."

"Avada kedavra!" Voldemort roared, breaking the kido spell. Hitsugaya pulled out Hyourinmaru barely in time to block the attack.

"That spell was originally created to separate a soul from its body, and, if the wielder was powerful enough, to shatter the Chain of Fate, creating a Hollow," Hitsugaya said, reciting the facts from the mission briefing folder. "As such, it is also illegal to use it, and it is also useless to use it on Shinigami. We have no material body, nor do we have any Chain of Fate." With an almost childish satisfaction, he watched as his lecturing tone made the Dark Lord turn a brilliant puce shade.

"Die!" Voldemort screamed.

"Then stop saying it and actually attempt to do it!" Hitsugaya screamed back. Dammit, he wanted a fight, not a bloody political mess!

In return, Voldemort shot towards him using a very messy form of shunpo,

"I see," Hitsugaya muttered. "Your ability to wield your reiatsu while in a body is allowing you the upper hand here."

"Force them to suffer, Sangemaru!" Voldemort called out to his zanpakuto. A dark, reddish, definitely malicious haze surrounded the man as his zanpakuto's blade grew longer and thicker, finally resembling a red Chinese scimitar with a pair of long, whiplash tentacles as a handguard. The handle had also grown longer and now sported a mace-like end.

'He can use shikai!' Hyourinmaru cried.

'Damn this stupid Limit,' Hitsugaya replied. 'I guess we have to use shikai as well.'

'Let's do it, then. But not now.'

'Why not?'

'We may not need it, and we definitely don't want these impressionable Wizards around us to learn any more about Shinigami. We're probably already in plenty of trouble.'

'Probably. Besides, we should concentrate on getting his soul out of his body. With the extra pressure the extra Chains of Fate must be giving his soul, once he's out of his body then he's virtually neutralized.'

Feeling the reiatsu in the air spike, Hitsugaya slid into a basic (original) stance, bending slightly at the knees and holding Hyourinmaru with its base near his abdomen and the tip of its blade pointing outward at a sixty degree angle towards Voldemort's head.

"I'm not like the others," he warned. The symbol to separate Voldemort's soul from his body was behind the clasp; he would probably have to slam it into the man's body while facing away from him. "I can fight you." He shunpo-ed to just behind the other man.

"Is that all you've got?" Voldemort asked, attempting to best Hitsugaya and instead falling in his trap. As he appeared behind the shorty, Hitsugaya pulled Hyourinmaru's sheath off and rammed the back of its clasp into Voldemort's abdomen while kicking Sangemaru into a random corner.

Contrary to any of the watchers' beliefs, Voldemort's soul slid out of his body with a soft _chink_ing sound. Hitsugaya could see the other Chains of Fate attached to his chest like a malignance; already, some of them were tearing each other apart due to their overall instability.

"How disgusting," Hitsugaya said. Reaching down, he pulled up a handful of the decomposing, self-devouring chain. "I don't think you did the… whatever you did… to get these properly, though. The graft from another soul seems to have been incomplete, or else the links wouldn't be acting this way."

"You know how to create Horcruxes?"

"It's fairly simple in theory," Hitsugaya said crossly. "You take the other soul as it's dying, grab the end of the Chain of Fate still attached to the body, and attach it to your soul. Then, the other end of the Chain is attached to an inanimate object, which won't die on you. In practice, however, I have no idea what spell to use to do so, since your beloved Avada Kedavra shouldn't-That's why it's deteriorated; before the Chain of Fate fully dissolved, you attached it to yourself, which stopped but did not reverse the damage."

Hitsugaya stopped as a single black butterfly fluttered in, circling over his head as it relayed his message.

"Kuso," he grumbled. "Tell Isane that I'll finish this by myself, then," he said in Japanese. The Hell Moth flew off as Hitsugaya positioned Hyourinmaru to slice through the extraneous Chains of Fate.

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"We must get you to Hogwarts, Harry," Dumbledore said. "In the meantime, the Minister and I need to have a little talk over tonight's… escapades."

"It's about Shiro, isn't it?" Harry asked.

"If you're talking about the Shinigami, then please refer to him by his proper name. It is far past time that we Wizards realized our true place in this world."

"But-" Fudge began. "We cannot allow-"

"I'm afraid that must decision must be made by the Shinigami. If they choose to remain sequestered from us, then they may remain so. If not, however, then I suggest it is high time that we reintroduce them into Wizarding society."

"But," Fudge began once again. "It's imposs-"

"It is not," Dumbledore said. "All you need are a few Obliviators and the Shinigami's consent. I believe three of them, high ranking ones no less, are here now. _Portus_." Dumbledore gave Harry a newly created Portkey; Harry grabbed it and was sent into Dumbledore's office.

"WHAT THE F?!" Harry roared as he ended up in Dumbledore's office just as dawn broke. Finding himself locked inside, he attempted to break down the door before he realized that an 'Alohamora' would be easier.

When the door did not budge, Harry was forced to resort to many hexes, jinxes, and curses, until finally, two hours later…

"Reducto!" And the door blew down. Muttering angrily at not having used the spell earlier, Harry strode purposely away from the Headmaster's office… to a random nowhere.

He needed a destination. Turning towards the Gryffindor dormitories, he was about to set off when he heard screaming in the direction of the Great Hall.

"Crap!" he turned around and ran as fast as he could down to the Great Hall… only to find that those doors were also locked magically.

"Reducto!"

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"Reducto!" It was that annoying Potter. Hitsugaya loosened his hold on the Chains of Fate and lowered Hyourinmaru slowly. It proved to be a mistake, as the Dark Lord promptly proceeded to kick him into the door.

"Foolish," Voldemort said, walking over to Sangemaru and picking it up. "It seems that, so long as my body is in good condition, I can reinhabit it. Also, I must fight on an equal basis with you."

Hitsugaya refrained from his urge to curse. He had definitely _not_ known that, and now the situation had taken a turn for the worse. Well, at least Isane and Ukitake would search for him in a few days if he wasn't done by then…

"Tell me," he said quietly. "Why did you do the things you did?"

"Why?" Voldemort asked. "Because I want a pure world free of any unworthy beings to inhabit this earth."

"Does it matter that you've been creating Hollows that will later devour others' souls?"

"Foolish Shinigami. It doesn't matter; Lord Voldemort will rule the world."

Hitsugaya looked at the other man disdainfully. "You sully the name of your kind, wizard. I won't even let you go to Hell! Die!"

Voldemort swung Sangemaru as hard as he could, infuriated by the child-like Shinigami's words. "DIEEE!"

"You die!" Hitsugaya screamed, forced to dodge the dark red cloud, which was probably some fire-acid thing. "It's your fault for everything!" He hated uncaring people like Voldemort, and Hyourinmaru agreed. However, in his rage, he had lost track of the Dark Lord, who now shunpo-ed behind him.

Hitsugaya froze. For some reason, he couldn't move his body. _Bakudo,_ his mind whispered.

"Do you like my binding spell?" mocked the Dark Lord, positioning Sangemaru for the final strike. "It freezes you in place."

"Of course, that only works if you've got less reiatsu than the person creating the binding spell in the first place," Hitsugaya said, releasing as much reiatsu as he could to shatter the binding spell. "In other cases, it's useless."

"You can't win unless you release your blade. If your elders couldn't defeat me, then you won't be able to, either, boy. And they never released their blades, signifying that they were weak."

"Don't speak about them that way," Hitsugaya growled.

"Why not?" Lord Voldemort mocked. "They were weak, and they lost to Lord Voldemort. As will you."

"_They were my subordinates,"_ Hitsugaya ground out. "Don't slander their deaths! Soten ni zase, Hyourinmaru!" Everyone, especially Lord Voldemort, was shocked.

"H-how?!" Voldemort shrieked. "You're just a boy!"

"I'm a genius," Hitsugaya snapped scornfully. "And older than you are, _mortal_. So shut your impudent mouth!" He began attacking the Dark Lord, no rhyme or reason to his attacks. Or so it seemed; while Voldemort was busy blocking and trying to come up with a pattern, Hyourinmaru the dragon came up from behind and wrapped the Dark Lord in its coils.

With a snarl, the Dark Lord called out, "Ryuuka, Sangemaru!" as a long tongue of flame extended from the blade, dancing around the ice dragon. Hourinmaru, in danger of melting, immediately detached itself from its intended victim.

'We can't lift our limit,' Hyourinmaru said.

'I know,' Hitsugaya replied.

'They're strong. Very strong. Stronger than we are while we have these idiotic Limits on."

'But we won't be doing Bankai, either.'

'Don't be stupid. These doofuses don't know that what a bankai is.'

'But Soul Society does. And we're already in enough trouble.'

'Fine. But still, last resort?'

'…Fine. But I won't use it until it _is_ the last resort.'

'Spoilsport.'

'And you're supposed to be the reflection of my soul?'

'I'm here to remind you that you're supposed to be a child.'

'That ended well over two hundred years ago.'

'Watch out!'

"Damn!" Hitsugaya hissed as he narrowly missed getting crisped by the red, hot, venomous gas that was part of the Dark Lord's shikai. 'Isn't there a way to stop that shikai of his? At this rate, he's stronger than we are.'

'No, sadly. That's hot gas. Any of it we trap will simply burn its way out of it again.'

Hitsugaya dodged another foray, then jumped up to dodge the Dark Lord's swing. 'Damn. I'll have to use bankai at this rate.'

'He's using the school's innate power to his benefit,' Hyourinmaru said suddenly. Hitsugaya thought it sounded grumpy. This was his soul's reflection?

'That is so unfair,' he agreed.

'So, bankai?' This time Hyourinmaru sounded hopeful.

Hitsugaya blocked another attack before he dissented, sending the ice dragon to create a miniature snowstorm that blinded everyone but the duelists.

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Harry cursed as Voldemort was lost in the snowstorm. That Shiro was going to get himself killed!

"What happened?" he asked Professor McGonagall, who had managed to break the bonds – which were tangibly weakening now that their jailor was using less and less of the power he needed to fight the Dark Lord. Indeed, several of the teachers – not including Umbridge – were free.

"The stupid boy insulted Voldemort, who cut his soul loose from his body saying he could revive himself later, and now they're fighting. They both have an insane amount of power."

"RYUUKAAAAAA!!!!!!!" they heard Voldemort howl over the screech of icy wind.

The blizzard increased in virulence as the temperature dove sharply. The weather outside began creating a storm of epic proportions as an already existing storm became augmented by Hitsugaya's power. "Ryuusenka!"

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"Bankai!"

Hitsugaya frowned as he nearly lost control of the blizzard in the time between his shikai and his bankai. With a soft sigh as it came back, stronger than ever, he turned to the Dark Lord, the storm blocking his words from anyone else's ears.

"It's time to end this, foolish human." He felt utterly out of place speaking like such. Kuchiki-taichou would have been more suited to the role he was playing now. "I will destroy your soul."

"What kind of magic is this?" Voldemort gasped.

"This is the next level. Only a select few can do this, and you will never be one of them. _This_ is the power of a Shinigami!" Hitsugaya aimed his sword at the other.

"Katou!" Voldemort screamed.

"Ryuusenka!"

Voldemort was locked in a cage of ice, unable to do anything. Hitsugaya shot forward, his icy wings giving him momentum, and slid a blade through the Dark Lord's soul, shattering it.

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"Done," he grumbled. "It seems you were right after all, Hyourinmaru."

'You know I am,' the zanpakuto said smugly. 'After all, I am you. And now we deal with the stupid wizards.'

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" they heard Isane scream. "Taichou!"

Hitsugaya sealed his bankai, ending the snowstorm. "Yes?" he asked as Isane began on a long, slightly wailing rant about how the wizards had now found out about the Shinigami.

"I know how to solve this problem, though," Hitsugaya said. "And the wizards will do it for us."

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"I want a meeting with your Minister of Magic," Byakuya said. "This is the imperative demand of the Soul Society by two of its Captains."

"And if we choose not to?" the toady woman-lackey asked. Hmmm… he should use that lovely potion he had put in that box of chocolates.

"But you will, won't you?" Hitsugaya asked politely. The woman looked flustered, but nodded.

"Of course I will!" she exclaimed. "This is a matter of utmost importance!"

"I thought that it was illegal?" Byakuya murmured coolly.

"I obtained special permission. It was a favor from Kurotsuchi-taichou for messing up my gigai."

"I see." Only the Captain of the Twelfth Division and the Head of the First Division had access to illegal goods and the rank to issue them. "My sister Rukia's in Japan right now. There's a bit of a Hollow infestation there. Could you go and check on her?"

"After this is over. Why don't you just have some of your division go?"

"…I really don't trust them not to mess up."

"Right…"

"You are a Captain. Act like one."

"The Minister will see you now." The pair were ushered in.

"I am the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge."

"We are Captains of Soul Society, also known as 'Shinigami', or 'Soul Reapers'."

"What?!"

"We are Captains of Soul Society, also known as 'Shinigami', or 'Soul Reapers'."

"No, no. I heard that. But Shinigami don't exist!"

"Then what are we?" Hitsugaya broke in.

"Well? How may I help you?" Fudge asked. He seemed nervous.

"We want you to erase the memory of everyone who has seen us," Hitsugaya said bluntly.

"Really? Why should I?"

"Shinigami prefer to remain anonymous to the living," Byakuya said smoothly. "As such, we are willing to take… drastic measures… to ensure so."

"Eh, we can't really have you do that," Fudge stammered. "Y-you see,-!"

"You can and you will," Byakuya said confidently. "After all, we destroyed your Dark Lord for you. Now you can do the same and help cover our presence. Unless, of course, you're not able to do so. Are you?"

"Of course we are!" Fudge said angrily, then realized his mistake. "But that is not a prudent course. You see, as magical crea-"

"We're nothing of the sort," Byakuya interrupted icily.

"But-"

"We're better than you wizards," Hitsugaya informed him. "Don't degrade us." Byakuya invisibly elbowed him.

"Don't talk to me like that, boy!" Hitsugaya ignored him. Like he said, stupid mortals.

"Hitsugaya-taichou," Byakuya said neutrally, making Hitsugaya realize that the temperature in the room had dropped considerably. In front of them, Fudge had paled considerably.

"D-Dumbledore!" he finally said, a relieved but shaky expression on his face.

"Hello, Shinigami-sama, Hitsugaya-san," Dumbledore said, bowing to the two.

"Hello, Dumbledore-san," Hitsugaya said, bowing back. "This is Kuchiki-taichou. Kuchiki-taichou, this is Dumbledore-san."

"It's nice to meet you," Byakuya said, bowing slightly.

"Please stop talking in Chinese or whatever it is," Fudge complained, confused by the use of honorifics.

"I am sorry, my dear Minister," Dumbledore said, twinkling. "This is Captain Kuchiki of the Soul Reapers." (AN: That just sounds lame.)

Fudge squeaked. "S-soul R-r-reap-pers?" Hitsugaya gave him a 'Duh' look; that was fairly obvious, wasn't it?

"Our demands were simple," Byakuya told the other man. "We simply wished for them to use their Memory Charms to forget we ever existed."

"But that is not simple. You see, Toshiro here-" ("It's Hitsugaya-taichou, dammit!") "- has been to our school. He has had prolonged contact with the students. That is virtually impossible to erase without someone becoming curious as for the whereabouts of their missing memory and finding something about you."

"That's what I was going to say!" Fudge said, flustered once more. Byakuya simply gave him a Look and ignored the quivering mass of meat jelly.

"Then tell them I was expelled and moved to Japan or something. Just make sure that nothing they saw in these past few days is going to remain in their minds."

"I'm sure that can be arranged," Byakuya said. "In the meantime, why don't we all take a break and think about this?"

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Hitsugaya stood in the air several dozen feet above London.

"Che," he muttered, spotting no Hollows in sight. "I know I'm a kid and suck at politics, but why do I have to patrol while Kuchiki-taichou's off playing politics?"

"I don't mind patrolling. It's the politics I hate," Renji said. He too was standing high above the city. "Although watching wizards squirm might be more fun than looking for nonexistent Hollows or spirits."

"It's the stupid wizards' fault," Hitsugaya groused. "Blame them."

"Blah. Their spells are nothing compared to ours, though, Hitsugaya."

"Whatever you say." Hitsugaya answered. "And it's Hitsugaya-taichou to you."

"It's Abarai-fukutaichou to you."

"I am your superior. I can call you what I want."

"Heh. Your overformal ass won't allow anyone to call you something other than 'Hitsugaya-taichou'."

"I'm proud of my rank, idiot."

"Hey, I am too!"

"Do you want to be stuck here for another few decades? I can do that, you know."

"Ack, the kid's resorting to blackmail!"

"Stupid adult."

"Well, what would you know?!"

"Oh, look! A Hollow!"

"Idiot. I'm not an idiot as to fall for that!"

"I was telling the truth, you idiot! If you had been sensing reiatsu, you would have known that!"

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"So, taichou, how did the negotiations go?"

"They were fine, Abarai-fukutaichou. Now all we have is Hitsugaya-taichou's trial."

"What trial?"

"I made a lot of stupid mistakes, Abarai-baka-fukutaichou."

"Oh."

Hitsugaya went over and sat on the bed. Byakuya slid gracefully into the chair, and Renji leaned against the wall. Suddenly, a Hell Moth flew in.

"There's no trial?" Hitsugaya asked, shocked.

"Apparently your actions at the end redeemed you," Renji joked. "That and finding the lost Hollow site."

"Most likely," Byakuya said gravely. "You're still going to be restricted from going on missions and using your zanpakuto for a year, though."

"While you relearn protocol," Renji smirked. "Ah, I never knew Tensai-taichou would have to go back to the Academy."

"It's only a year," Hitsugaya said with as much of his hurt dignity as he could muster. He grabbed the pillow and threw it. "And I can still talk to Hyourinmaru."

"Cheater!" Renji hollered. "I don't have anything to throw!"

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Hitsugaya looked at the castle in the distance before turning and walking through the portal. As soon as he had passed, many other ranked Shinigami ran through to study the strange Hollow prison in the middle of the forest.

'I can't wait to see Hinamori again,' he thought. 'I've really missed her.'

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Sorry my fighting scenes sucked! The two things I can't, can't, can't do are 1. Fight scenes. 2. Political scenes. As you can see, I was a bit screwed on this chapter. Oh, and the crackfic bunnies' attack didn't help.

Voldemort's zanpakuto:

Name: Sangemaru (Repentance)

Call-out thingie: Force them to suffer (I have no idea how to say that in Japanese)

Abilities: Ryuuka (Dragonfire), Katou (Fire Blade)


	18. Omake

2stupid: Here's an omake. There's no epilogue.

Tensa-chan: It may be the only omake, it may not. We'll see. These may not fit in with the story, since these _are_ drabbles. But we tried.

2stupid: We do plan on doing a few more, though… These are about the aspects of magical life we skimped on in the original storytelling.

Tensa-chan: That's only if you review with good ideas!

2stupid: No crap, please. I really can't work off something like 'make them go too Quidich'.

Tensa-chan: Bad idea (it's waaay too vague), bad grammar, bad everything. It wasn't even a review!

2stupid: We do believe that it was something like 'Have them play Quidditch', though.

Tensa-chan: Or something involving the Quidditch World Cup. You never know.

2stupid: Actually, we have decided to squeeze everything into one superomake; we just couldn't be bothered otherwise, and we knew you would want to read it all.

Tensa-chan: We did try to include everything we could think of, so please read and review.

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Omake

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Part 1: Diagon Alley

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He wondered what was so great about Diagon Alley. So far as he could tell, it was a dank, dirty pub that had no rights being where it was. Its name was the 'Leaky Cauldron.'

He hoped that wasn't how the service was. Or his possessions.

Nonetheless, Hitsugaya followed Harry and Ron, who dragged him off to… the backyard?

"This is Diagon Alley?" He asked. However, even he was unprepared to find the back wall of the place open up and transport them to a large shopping district.

"Sugoi," he muttered sarcastically under his breath so no one could hear. "A space-warp barrier. That's _so_ hard to do."

"Yes, it is," Hermione agreed, mistaking the sarcasm in his voice for admiration. "I mean, a dimension-warp portal is the hardest, and there aren't any in existence, but space-warp barriers take years to set up and must be renewed periodically."

So this was an _incomplete_ space-warp barrier. These wizards were so incompetent.

"I see," he said, walking through. The portal through the barrier felt as if it would collapse any second. "What if it collapses when you're walking through?"

Hermione winced.

So, apparently the barrier had done just that several times, the last of which had happened barely twenty-four years ago. The man had to be sent to the hospital to be reconfigured.

"Well, now at least we know not to loiter in the archway," Harry said pragmatically. "Come on! Let's go check out the brooms!"

Hermione grabbed Hitsugaya's hand. "We'll go and get his school stuff. We'll see you in thirty minutes!" she called to the other two. "Honestly, those two can't be trusted even to do their own shopping!"

"They seem pretty reliable otherwise," Hitsugaya said dryly.

"Well, yes, they are," Hermione said, pulling into a shop that read 'Flourish and Blotts'. It was a bookstore.

"We're here to get him the first-year set," Hermione said to the clerk.

"Here," he said absentmindedly. "We've been just keeping them in stock this way, since there's a rather large number of students going to Hogwarts, even with that old coot's ramblings."

Hitsugaya was quick to scent political discontent. "What sort of ramblings?" he asked.

"Oh, he and that Potter boy are saying that the Dark Lord is back! Can you believe that?"

"It doesn't matter. We'll all end up seeing who's correct in the end."

"That's true," Hermione said. "I'll pay for these books while you go and check to see if you want to buy anything," she offered.

"Alright." Turning, he headed into a deep, dark section of the bookstore.

Thirty minutes later

"Where's Hermione?" Ron wondered, looking around.

"She's probably still in the bookstore," Harry said. "Come on, let's go check."

"We're here," Hitsugaya said from directly behind Harry, who yelped and jumped.

"Don't do that! And how did you get here? I didn't hear or see you!"

"Practice. Lots and lots of practice."

"Hey, where's Hermione?"

"I'm right here," Hermione called from a few feet away. "I got your stuff for you, too."

"We still have to go to the Apothecary," Hitsugaya noted, looking at a random list of supplies.

"Hey, where'd you get that from?"

"I took it off a blond boy."

"A blond boy?" Harry asked.

"He was snobbish, so I decided to pay him back."

"Malfoy? You stole Malfoy's list?"

"I have no idea who you're talking about, but probably."

"You know how much trouble we'll be in?"

"No. And I don't particularly care. I'll just blame it on you." (AN: demotivators dot com poster: Success comes from knowing who to blame for your failures) A few Hollows roared in the background.

"What?!"

"You're definitely gonna be sorted into Slytherin," Ron said.

"Why, thank you," Hitsugaya retorted sarcastically. Honestly, the sheer amount of weak reiatsu around him, buzzing at the edge of his senses, was driving him insane.

Ron simply looked at him oddly and they went shopping.

It wasn't until he found the dragon blood in the Apothecary that winter came to Diagon Alley early.

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Part 2: The Train

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Hitsugaya sat and stared out the window. He was bored; he had absolutely nothing he could do, as he had already memorized his books, changed into his school robes, meditated/had a chat with Hyourinmaru (who was not locked securely in his trunk, so that option was now inaccessible again), and done everything else he could think of. Next to him, the Golden Trio was also bored stupid. (Except Hermione. She's never stupid.)

That all changed when the compartment door opened.

"Well, what have we here?" sneered a ratty-looking mortal boy flanked by a pair of meatloafs.

"You have an occupied compartment," Hitsugaya replied coolly. "Now leave and go find another place."

"Well, well, well. It's the Golden Trio," the blond rat sneered, ignoring Hitsugaya's reply. And since he _is_ a kid, no matter that he's been one for at least two hundred years now, Hitsugaya Hated being interrupted and it was now possible to see the angry vein mark on his forehead. "Oh look, that kid looks like he's going to have an apoplexy soon. I'd move out of this compartment as soon as I could, to avoid being blamed for the death-!"

Malfoy was cut off as Hitsugaya shunpo-ed in front of him and kicked his face out of the compartments. The meatballs followed.

"How on earth did you move that fast?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't," Hitsugaya replied. "You were distracted, so you didn't notice me."

"Uh, hunh," Ron said skeptically.

"Did you even know all those 'big' words I used?" Hitsugaya asked sardonically, making quotes at the 'big'.

"Hey!"

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Part 3: The Sorting

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As the first years were led into the Great Hall, Hitsugaya looked at the ceiling.

'Mortals do weird things with their reiatsu,' he muttered to Hyourinmaru's dim presence within his mind. All the reiatsu and the distance between the two meant that, for the first time in a very long time, Hyourinmaru's voice was almost nonexistent in his mind.

He really missed the funny, sarcastic anecdotes that his zanpakuto would give out at the most inopportune of times.

And of course, he ruminated over the old, battered, magically powerful Hat that seemed to contain four distinct reiatsus in it. Well, one of them had faded off, but its remnants were still there. Hitsugaya made a mental note to see what had happened to it.

When the Hat opened up and sang, Hitsugaya was probably the only one who wasn't surprised. He still pretended to be, though, just so he wouldn't blow his cover.

"Jyunrinan, Shiro," Professor McGonagall called, looking decisively grim. Hitsugaya wasn't overly worried or frightened, however, because even Matsumoto could look eviler than that. He could tell that she disapproved of his alias, however.

"Feh, forget that," he muttered under his breath in Japanese as he walked up to the Hat.

'Hello there, Shinigami,' a trio of voices – two female and one male – chimed in his head.

'I guess you are supposed to be the zanpakuto of three of the founders?' Hitsugaya asked. 'How have you managed to survive now?'

Without warning, he was in his mind.

'How snowy,' a young girl with green hair, robes, and tall, pointed Hat complained. A large snake and a majestic bird agreed.

'Deal with it,' Hyourinmaru rumbled. 'This is our mindscape.'

Suddenly, a fourth figure appeared. It was a tawny, winged lionness.

'Ever since that kid took me out of the Hat, I've had a harder time getting in students' minds,' she complained.

'Just put me in a house,' Hitsugaya grumbled.

'Since mine has the least so far this year…' a figure said.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Hitsugaya winced at the abnormally loud volume as he walked to the Potter's table.

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Part 4: This is Halloween

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Sadly, Hitsugaya had missed Halloween. Well, not sadly for him, as he didn't have a costume, but he had still been bored stiff while waiting inside the malfunctioning gigai.

Which is why he found himself being mobbed by the entire Gryffindor tower, clamoring to see his costume.

Hitsugaya thought of something quickly.

He dragged on a hooded cloak and stole a random scythe and walked out saying, "I am a Soul Reaper, now shut up and let me study in peace."

Miraculously, everyone disbanded and Hitsugaya did get to study in peace… until someone inquired as to the origins of his scythe.

To which he answered, "I don't know."

In response, there was a mass epidemic of polite coughing, sweatdrops, and face faulting, depending on the people's personalities.

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Part 5: Christmas at the Black Manor

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"Happy Christmas to you! Happy Christmas to you! Happy Christmas to everyone! Happy Christmas to you!"

Everyone in the Black Manor but Hitsugaya enjoyed the holiday. Of course, the only reason he didn't was because he had no idea what the holiday was about. The rest of them just thought he was a stickler.

A random Hell Moth flew in, unnoticed by the revelers.

'Happy Chrismas to you, Shiro-chan!' Hinamori's voice echoed in his mind.

Hitsugaya smiled softly; his friend was so sweet. He sent a message back.

In Soul Society, Hinamori was almost asleep when she felt her Hell Moth come back.

'Happy Chrismas to you too, Hinamori-chan,' Hitsugaya's voice echoed in her mind softly. Hinamori smiled as she went to sleep.

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Part 6: Gryffindor's Sword

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Gryffindor's sword was not a sword. That much was obvious; it was a zanpakuto. And it belonged in the Hat. Which is why Hitsugaya paid a visit one night to shove the thing back where it belonged. As he left, he could have sworn he heard a sigh of relief from the Hat. Oh well, it was probably just his imagination.

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Okay, here are the omake. That's all. This story is complete; look for the sequel, 'Espada', which is coming out in a month or two. I have to get my ideas into the computer first... I've got the middle and end, but not the beginning… oops.

Fin.


End file.
